New Blog Look---Purse Exchange!

I finally was able to change the way my blog looked!  I will not touch my other blog (Teaching Em) b/c that one took forever to get it the way I wanted to.  So I will leave that one the way it is forever and ever:)  

I also wanted to talk more about knitting for others... but in a good sense this time.  Below are pics from our First Annual Purse Exchange from Xmas 2008!!!  From left to right: Julia, Jean-Marie, Myself and Vanessa at Barns and Noble the Wednesday before Xmas:) HO! HO! HO!

 Our purse exchange required thought into creating and knitting/crocheting our purses.  This means that we made purses for our buddy based on their personality.  We had to spend between $20-25 (for a decent purse that's about how much you have to spend anyways) and we had to purchase the yarn at Loops and Links (our favorite LYS!) It was a great success.... at first I had no idea what to make for my person.  I got my friend, Jean-Marie, however Jean is picky... I always kept thinking of that lime green and black scarf that she kept wearing so I eventually decided to make her a green and black felted purse.  Although the purse ended up very cool looking I had to give it to her quite wet because I felted it earlier that day [and forgot to blow dry it!] Ooops!  Julia's purse was a jean purse to fit her "comfort" personality, mine was a school teacher purse to fit my "childlike" personality [the girls insisted that it was the "Em[ma] acts like a big kid instead of the negative side of things, aka being immature] Jean-Marie got an alien bag to fufill her "science fiction" and Vanessa got a bag based on her favorite colors.  All and all I think that this party was a huge success and I believe we will be doing this in the near future, hopefully with more people involved [anybody wanna knit a purse for next Xmas??]

Here is what each of our purses look like up close and personal

Julia's Purse [from Vanessa]

My Purse [from Julia] [note the hat I am wearing, I made it myself!]

Jean-Maire's purse [from me]

Vanessa's purse [from Jean-Marie] [Jean-Marie also made that green sweater Vanessa is wearing last summer while she was Europe!]

Aren't they amazing???

Next year we are going to do this again---it was a quick and cheap way to give our friends a gift without worrying too much about what to do.   

Updates!!!

Check out my videos in my blog Teaching Em!

Don't Wait... Finish Those $&#*@)&$# Sweaters! [No Matter What!]

The guinea pigs are squeaking again... they are singing to each other this time, I am so happy about that.  Somedays those two don't get along.  When Pickles and Peanut finally get along, I smile.  ANYWAYS----->Today's knitting adventures were small for me.  I finally resurrected the "Somewhat Cowl" (see left) sweater from over a year ago.  Funny story with that sweater, I was knitting it when I met my {ex} boyfriend A.J.  I wanted to finish it and wear it on our one year... well we didn't even make it to six months.  It was really cool that we did hook up on leap day... but that's all.  below is a photograph of the sweater length when I met him.  I worked very hard on it and then after he dumped me I putted it away in my yarn collection...never to be made again.  Then I found how I had a full "looper" card (20 bucks of yarn at the cost of $0!!) and I realized I wanted to spend money on yarn and get something useful out of it.  So I picked up the rest of the yarn that I needed and went home to work on the sweater.  It was hard to find out where I was but after some fixing I got myself to the boring part.  Boy I found how important it is to take notes on your projects and finish them in decent time frame.  This is because you will forget what you did!  I know I did.  I am looking at this bolero, (see below, I'm sure you all remember that pic, it was featured in a few blogs ago:)) it is a beautiful bolero, made with Freedom Wool Yarn (same brand as the Somewhat Cowl's Sweater but in brown)  but I don't remember what I did to the sleeve, it looks different from what it should be, so now i have to figure it out.  Geeze I might have to rip it out and do it again.... not fun.  Thankfully this green sweater that I am working on is simple, it is a top down sweater so I just need to knit, knit, knit until I am to my waist.  Knitting on a size 7 in the round for many more inches will take sometime, so thankfully I don't have to worry about alternating the pattern until I am at that point;)  Moral of the story: take notes on your knitting and follow the instructions to the T as much as possible!  They are there for a reason;) It makes sense, yet I fail.  That' me you know, I try to do something different b/c I am convinced it will be eaisier and then things are actually harder.  Why do I do that to myself?  I also hope I don't come across as "preachy" b/c I am trying not to be.  I like to rant to something, and what better way to rant or reflect or whatever but on a blog!!!!  

Knitting for Other People [Who May Not Like/Appreciate Knitting]

                                        
Knitting for others... what a pain in the butt!  I love to give other people gifts (even though most of the time I am not receiving any gifts from my friends, I feel bad for not showing how much their friendship means to me in physical form)!  The downside is knitting for people who are demanding me to give them a knitter object.  That is the most frustrating part.  For example, my mother.  She takes out the ruler and gives me the dimensions for a SCARF.  A scarf shouldn't have excat dimensions---after all it is going to go around your neck and sit there.  Who cares what it looks like? Well she does---and since I live with my mother I get to hear the classic---SOOOO Emily... how is my *insert project here* going? Between school and all of the other things I do, it is really hard to do anything in a quick fashion.  Thank goodness knitting for friends is usually more forgiving.  For example, my friend Nikki wanted not one but TWO scarfs, however since she gave me the yarn she hasn't asked about them, most likely because she trusts that I am getting the scarfs made.  My other buddy Corey, was a little less forgiving than Nikki, I kept hearing about how he wanted his sweater made ASAP---making a really long sweater is hard, but making it custom fit is even harder---but now that I have done it I will most likely do it again... but not for Corey;)  I had another friend, Nina who got my first felted pot.  Oh it was so awesome! I loved it a lot but I had nothing to give to her for her bday so I gave her my cherished treasure, when I was in her room a year later (for Frightfest) I found the pot in the trash in the corner of her room!  I pointed it out she looked really embarassed and she stashed it the corner again! :( I was very sad.  Stupid ass me made another pair of mittens for her and another friend, Kasey... I never saw them wear them.  That broke my heart, especially since I was really working hard on all of the projects above.  I decided only people who really appreciate knitting are going to receive my hand-made treasures.  For example, the hat to the left was a gift for my brother girlfriend's children, Daisy and Ella.  When I gave her the hat she was so appreciated.  She gave me a thank you card and said the girls wore their hats quite often.  How sweet! I know I'm not the best knitter in the world but people who don't wear my knitted objects are in an akward position: they don't like the knitted object and don't want to hurt my feelings, or the color doesn't work etc.  I know that it is hard to be nice to a friend that appreciates something that you don't...still I feel you should pretend sometimes and wear it... but that's me.  Oh well.  Thankfully there are friends that DO appreciate my knitting.  Above is a pic of me with two red mittens, I made them for my friend Julie (Corey's girlfriend and boy are they cute together!) the look on her face when she saw those mittens were made for her, it made my day!  In a way that was my gift from her!  Even my other friends were envious of those beautiful mittens.  They were a quick project but yet they were long enough to put some thought into them.  They were to her liking and I know she will be wearing them frequently.  It not only has to do with the color I choose but it also has to do with the fact she crocheted a blanket... probably one of the biggest blankets I have ever seen.  So I know she appreciates the mittens... and that makes me happy.      The moral of the story is: some friends are good people, but don't appreciate knitting.  Knit for those who appreciate hand-knitted gifts, and for those who you aren't sure, just knit a hat or a really quick scarf (like the Yo! Drop it! From the Stitch'N'Nation book) because it really does hurt when they make that face at you and then your gift gets tossed in the corner of the room! 

Visiting Jenni+Bringing a Pattern on a Greyhound

Off to MN...

I am going to MN to visit my best friend for New Years!  This means that I have to take something to knit on the way up...I am working on some socks.  After all they are the easiest to knit on a trip, especially when all you do is just simple rounds for hours and hours in a car.  That way you don't have to struggle with reading patterns or following a chart...gr.  Last time I took the DJ bag up with MN and worked on it for an extensive time, it wasn't too hard to work on because there was plenty of room, but since I am going in a car I wanted to have something smaller and less difficult and more familiar to work on...but don't fret...I am working on a chart for the ride home, when I am on the greyhound for 8 hours...gr.

Happy New Years!

E

Making Things Look Like Becky's Work [aka AWESOME!]

Finishing...

It is so hard to finish any of my work! I get really frustrated that I take a lot of time purchasing, planning and knitting beautiful patterns but when it comes to finishing anything, geeze do I stink! A few months ago I made a beautiful bolero to wear at my cousin's wedding. However, the DAY of the wedding...IT FELL APART!:( I wish I had a few tips from experts on creating clean edges to give hand-made garments a nice finished look.

The image abore are fingerless mittens that I am making for my friend Julie. According to her boyfriend, she loves red b/c it is the "colar of passion," It took me some time to make these beautiful mittens, but finishing them is a nightmare. Little pieces of yarn stick out of the edges of the top of the mitens and the top of the thumbs. I also get a big bump at these locations too.

Last but not least, to the right is a baby hat I made for a co-worker. I still can't get

that finished look, but to be honest, it looks cleaner than the mittens that are photographed above. This time around I used a crochet hook instead of a needle. I used longer strand of yarn at the end and weaved it in quite detailed into several parts of the hat. I also used a crocheted edge around the brim of the hat.

I once met a lady who owned Bella Lana Yarns that when you sew up edges you need a loose edge, such as a slipped stitch edge. When I make my next sweater I am going to slip a stitch before I knit (or purl) the row...and slip one at the end of the row before I turn around and start over again. I am hoping that this new technique will make my edges look smoother. :)

Happy Knitting!:)