Knitting: Headband, so many headbands

Haha, I don’t know what I’m doing to myself. The I’ve knitted too much in the past few days pain is back in my fingers. I’ve made so many of these headbands in the last few weeks. I’ve really been trying to push them and sell them. Money is money I guess. But I really need to find something new to make… jeez.

Here the etsy listing though: https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/173619058/twisted-and-ribbed?

I actually really like making these though. I really like the texture of ribbing. I don’t know why I don’t use the stitch more, maybe because I’ve tried really hard to find patterns that were more and more challenging. Currently I’m going back to basics. Because these are the classic knitted looks. My love affair with cables are still going strong. But I’m fairly into the big twist in the middle of this headband.

Yeah I think I love knitting too much. I’ve seen more yarn than humans in the last week.

Knitting: The end of The Road or What I Learn from and by knitting

The title is a inside joke (not that funny) between me and myself for the novel )The Road) that I have an in-class write on tomorrow morning that I may or may not have read.

Today I have at last finished my Gryffindor House scarf.

I’m pretty excited. I also will never take it off. No big deal.

But on a more serious note, I did learned one thing from this project: I have a hard time sitting still and I’m easily bored.

This particular knitting project, though extremely time consuming, was pretty mindless. I am “good” enough at knitting that I can do it by feel and muscle memory. This means that I am free to occupy my mind with other things. Going back to the original point, I usually operate with a certain level of distraction – clicking pens, doodling, twirling pens, playing with my phone… – in class. I just can’t sit still that long. Especially not for 75 minute blocks. What this means is I need something to do that occupies my hands so I don’t fiddle with everything around me, but still enables me to listen at the same time. This was a perfect project for doing this.

History class is a class where we are mostly listening because we discuss events in a much more “storytelling way”, which doesn’t really lend itself to notes. We also watch a lot of videos. I noticed that once I started knitting in class I actually listened a lot better. For two reasons, one I feel slightly guilty that it looks like I’m not paying attention so I pay extra attention to prove myself by answering a lot of questions. And two, I am fully awake because I’m constantly moving. This is a big deal when half the class passes out the moment the lights go out for a movie.

In Geography class, I was asked to put my knitting away. And I proceeded to be restless for the rest of class. I personally notice these differences in myself, but the teacher did not permit it even when I explained that it helped me listen. On one hand, yeah, it’s perfectly understandable that he asked me to put it away because he thinks I’m not paying attention. But on the otherhand, super annoying because I proceeded to be bored for the rest of class and twirling and twitching my pen, whereas the knitting would have kept me reasonably entertained while still being able to listen.

But still. It wasn’t that unreasonable to ask me to put it away.

I’m just saying that I learned more in the last two weeks through knitting and listening to history podcasts than I usually do having to sit still for 75 minutes straight.

Also, I have a hypothesis that the rhythm or pattern that I fall into while knitting that later helps in recalling knowledge that I’ve gained while knitting. Like learning through association. Here is a summary of a study that I found.

Perhaps it works in the same way music works in this article.

Well, as much as I say that it has benefits, again, can’t blame teachers when they ask me to stop.

Although I am a bit annoyed by the fact that this particular teacher did not take me seriously when I tried to explain that knitting helps me listen. He acted like I was just making up an excuse to keep doing what I want.

More annoying is the fact that oftentimes people are on Facebook, texting, or even gaming and I am the one that gets told off when I make an effort to listen by finding something that allows me to focus.

But you know, perfectly understandable that he asked me to stop.

Here are two great history podcasts that I love and have learned tons from as I knit and listen:

The History Chicks

Stuff You Missed in History Class

Oh and I’ve been getting a lot of reading done for history class because the textbooks are heavy enough that I don’t have to hold it down with my hands allowing me to read and knit at the same time.

I’m currently finishing another project though. It’s the 4th Doctor’s scarf:

It needs 3 more stripes.

There’s a rather long story behind why I knitted this scarf. The most important part you need to know is:

I don’t actually watch Doctor Who. I am not a fan. (But I might be in future, if I ever decide to watch it) I have a friend who is a crazy fan and she freaks out when people are ignorant about the franchise. So long story short, I made this scarf to er… Troll someone, to use a Internet term. Because it would be funny to see how she would react when someone who is not a real fan (and will still call the title character “Doctor Who” rather than “the doctor” and the scarf “The Doctor Who Scarf” rather than a “4th doctor scarf”) parades a icon like that around.

Knitting: Recycling Yarn – the poor student chronicles

 

 

 

 

This really was a labour of love. This bundle of yarn got itself tangled and took me an hour to untangle and wind. And I have so many more to go.

In my endeavor to get yarn with money I don’t have. Students budget, you know. (“student’s budget” is my favourite euphemism)

I scoured the Share Thrift Store and it so happened to be half off day, so I got a green sweater for $2.25. I underestimated the time it would take to undo it, however. I spent an entire 4 hours taking it apart and frogging half of the sweater. I have to say, while this does save money, it is completely time consuming and inefficient. Time is galleons and all that.

This sweater happened to be a 10% wool and 90% acrylic blend. For $2.25 and a whole sweater’s worth of worsted weight yarn, that’s pretty darn good.

I got two other sweaters too.

This is the one I take apart next. On a side note, this one made me sneeze like crazy. I suspect the angora hair that floated through the air as I pulled apart the seams. This might be the end of my dreams to get an Angora rabbit. 

BUT IT’S SO CUTE.

Well anyways, I frogged the sweater onto a chair and then soaked it in warm water.

There it is on the last panel hanging to dry. And that’s how we got to the first photo. Don’t get your yarn tangled, children, it makes for preventable headaches.

 

 

 

Knitting: Potter Mania

 

Now that winter break’s here, I’ve done nothing but knit. Yes, I’m feeling considerable guilt because there’s a bunch of things I should be doing, but I’ve had absolutely no motivation for anything recently – well, since grade 9 really. It’s a bit late to fix the problem, eh? (an excuse for laziness, of course).

It is supremely relaxing, though it’s actually pretty hard on my fingers since I have literally been knitting all day. It’s not really worth a repetitive stress injury for so I should really watch out for that.

While I knit, I really hate the silence, so I’ve been listening to Harry Potter audiobooks. So I’ve really gotten back into the whole Harry Potter business. It’s funny, Harry Potter has been the one thing that I’ve stuck with consistently. I’ve tried to get into these other fandoms, but none of those works ever engage me enough. I leap to tell people how underwhelmed I am by the Hunger Games. I think it has to do with the rave reviews that I’ve heard for it and the hype that surrounded it. It was built up so high by the people around me that the actual thing itself could never live up to it. It also had to do with the writing. No one can pull off first person (great sweeping generalization…) – except for Nick Carraway. Personal bias, sure, but The Great Gatsby is gorgeous.  Anyways, I thought The Hunger Games was entertaining enough, but I didn’t fall in love with it. Not like I fell in love with The Great Gatsby, with the Potter series, with The Little Prince.

In my view, it’s along the line of Twilight. I see why people like it, I just don’t. Although, I actually found Twilight a bit more engaging to read, I suppose because I read it in my 12/13 year old days. I fell out of that fandom quickly enough. Any form of extreme behaviour turns me off. Rabid fan girls fall into that perfectly.

But even with Potter I like to stay away from the “crazies”.

So I had a hankering to make a house scarf because I’m reliving my childhood through the audiobooks. For some reason, Harry Potter is the thing that has stuck with me. I tried to get into all these other things that have giant followings and I haven’t really felt anything for them. Like Doctor Who. Yeah, I’m ready for what attacks come my way. But I also have a hard time getting that enthusiastic for anything. Even with say, the Canucks and Potter, I love to discuss, but I would not defend to death. I think you know what I mean.

“J.K. ROWLING IS A GODDESS AMONG US.” “HARRY POTTER IS THE BEST BOOK SERIES EVER WRITTEN.” That sort of thing.

I’m perfectly happy criticizing it. It’s still mainstream fiction and it does read like it. I think it has it’s place in the culture and in my generation and it will survive to be studied at the elementary and even up to the high school level. But I don’t think it’s even to merit real Potter scholars, people who get PhD in literature studying Potter, I mean.

I mean… I’m fairly exasperated by the “essays” on Potter (ie. symbol hunting sessions) and even that new podcast by MuggleNet that claims to provide “comprehensive insight into the literary thematic elements and scholastic endeavors that author J.K. Rowling has provided in her writings of the Harry Potter series.” All I can think of is my English teacher saying, “You guys have good ideas, but they just need to be developed.” They certainly don’t say anything revolutionary. But again… target audience.

Anyway, here’s my WIP Gryffindor scarf. It’s taking forever because it is double knitted, but it’ll be super warm. Worth it.

 

One of my friends requested a house circle scarf and since I realized I didn’t have enough time or yarn to make a full-fledged Ravenclaw scarf, I decided to do a trial run of a circle house scarf.

I chose the book colours because I an a nationalist (or a … um… bookist?) after all.

Knitting: A Bit of A Problem

I’ve been working on a pattern called a “Twisted Rib Neckwarmer” and I finally finished it this afternoon.

But I realized I made a completely boneheaded mistake halfway through making it. I didn’t just accidentally twist it, I twisted it at least 5 times. That’s the picture above. Can’t even make it work, the amount of twists in there.

So it was time for some problem solving. And dramatic action.

A few snips later it became a normal scarf with an open wound.

Time to carefully sew it back together without pulling out half the scarf.

And tada! My Twisted Rib Neckwarmer. 🙂

And a collage I made of the whole thing because I felt like it 😛

Knitting: Scarf Mania

Getting back into knitting and I’m loving scarves.

Currently working on a Twisted Rib Neckwarmer.

I finished a White Swan Scarf earlier.

Spring Break is allowing me plenty of time to knit. If only I don’t keep putting off the homework I have to catch up on in order to go to Ottawa next week – and skipping a week of school.