When You Tried To Do The Right Thing…

Like pulling the yarn from the centre of the ball instead of from the outside, and the ball of yarn said: NOPE…

It hurts.

A lot.

And the struggle… The struggle, Ladies and Gentlemen… is real. But you know what? I have to go on… Because my socks need to be done. But don’t you just hate it when it happens?

Apparently, the lacey part of the ankle was not the hardest part of this particular pattern. My problem is that this pattern wasn’t as clear or straightforward as the previous patterns I have tried. For example when it said continue in st st 2 cm, I wasn’t sure whether it means “continue until it reaches 2 cm” or “continue for another 2 cm”. That is annoying isn’t it? Especially for me, because I am a noob in knitting socks.

It just socks! Lol sorry. I had to do that..

x ❤ x

New Little DPNs

Of course, following my new obsession towards socks, I have decided that having a new set of double pointed needles would be… not only necessary, but also proper. Why? I heard you asked (you might not ask, but I assume you did).

Well… I’ve got sets of DPNs, but the ones I had was sets of 4, instead of 5. Each of them are around 20 cm, which is lovely when I was doing hats. With socks, or probably gloves (if or when I would like to do it in the future), long DPNs are slightly trickier.

And bla…

And bla…

Seriously, do I need reason to buy more knitting needles? So I went to Amazon and got one of these. These needles are short and just the correct size for the aforementioned projects. These made of bamboo, and unlike the ones I had before, these are not varnished.

And started a new sock project. So far so good, but it is just a beginning. Thing is this bamboo — being raw, and not varnished has its own downside. For example, some of the bamboo fibres kept catching out the wool fibres. Which I hate so much.

 

For awhile, I did regret the purchasing decision. I started to consider writing a review in Amazon to tell what a nasty little shit these needles are. But of course, me being a really nice person, giving it a chance. 

And I am glad I did. Once the rough edges has gone, this bamboo DPNs are lovely to work with. The fact that it is not slippery makes is better for my project. It means, I don’t drop stitches. We don’t like dropping stitches do we?

The pattern for my new project is from DROPS design. Although I am not using their wool, this one has got the same gauge with the one asked in the pattern. Yes I made swatch before making this, so this is the correct size.

It looks alright. But, seriously… I had a lot of problem with it. Mostly because I have never worked with picture pattern before. I needed to google how to read it before I started. Apparently it is done from right to left, from bottom up — like how I did the fair isle pattern for the baable hat.

How could I forget that?

 

x ❤ x

Meanwhile…

I am still catching up with my cross stitch project. It is still doing really slow. I think I kept over thinking when I am stitching. I found myself staring at the pattern for a very long time thinking of which colour I should have done first. You don’t know how time consuming that is. Or maybe you do know? Maybe you’re just like me? Taking so long to decide which colour you want to do instead of doing it right away?

Yeah. Quite surprised that this project is actually going somewhere. It looks nice isn’t it? I wish I could do it faster though, but I have to stop stitching every now and then because I should be careful with my wrist as well as my eyes.

Somehow, I do the same about knitting. I would go to ravelry, staring at patterns for so long before deciding which pattern I would like to do. I could have done something else — something that is more productive. Like actually knit something.

Something like baby booties. Or blanket.

No. Not for me. It’s for my sister. She is now 3 months pregnant, and I have half a year to create stuffs for my first ever niece/nephew. You could see how excited I am for being an aunt, don’t you?

x ❤ x

Little Reminder…

Knitting the second one was much easier this time. It is unusual for me, because when I knit jumpers, the second sleeves (the last part of the project) was usually the hardest. Somehow, probably because the (not) difficulty level of the project itself, and because I was more or less distracted by lots and lots of SVU, it was done in no time at all.

But then, I remembered one thing. One thing that I should have thought before I even started the project.

I don’t like sewing, do I?

Yes I know I have to work on my mattress stitch by practising more. But seriously… sewing up after knitting is just… eeurgh.

The fact that the yarn was really dusty and smelly — and that I hate holding it so close to my face didn’t help either. I wonder if it is possible to wash the yarn before I knit it… It is ruining all the fun of knitting, isn’t it?

But I persevere. I thought. It could be a good thing. After all, I do want to learn how to sew, don’t I? So why not start small from this?

Tada! Another finished project of the year. It doesn’t look bad at all. Yes, the toe is still bit too pointy for my liking, and the holes are still there, but they are quite promising as a pair of socks.

So I wash them. Lightly. Because I am not sure what the yarn is made of (wool or acrylic) — can anyone tell me how to know it if I got them without all the labels and things? Cold water, baby shampoo, I could be wrong, but that’s how I do my make up brushes. And I do my make brushes very carefully.

The water was practically blackened, and I could feels the socks get softer in my hand. Don’t worry. I know, no wringing, only squishing. That’s what I did. Twice. It was really dirty.

Final verdict?

1. It fits nicely, being one size for all. My size is UK 5, or EU 38.
2. The toe bits doesn’t look awkward at all once you wear it.
3. The holes are still there, but it wasn’t too prominent when you wear it. It might be covered when you wear shoes or ankle high boots.
4. One thing I didn’t count on was the seam. You could feel it under your feet everytime. It could be uncomfortable but since I haven’t worn it that long, I couldn’t say more than that.

Whether I like it or not?

Uhm… I don’t know…

 

x ❤ x

 

Little Socks…

Been two days, and the socks have been going well. The wool was really nice to work with, the pattern was really easy to be followed. Apart from the sporadic sniffles every now and then, I enjoyed making this.

I mean, no fiddling with four or five DPNs? No fiddling with stitch holder? Heel flap and gusset is done at the same time? No picking up stitches? This must be the easiest sock pattern I could ever find. But then… I started to lost interest in this sock. Not because of it wasn’t challenging enough, or that I got bored. But because of.. THIS,

Can you see what I see? Yes. Holes.

Because of the way the heel flap and gusset was done, it creates holes. If you want to see it as a part of the design, be my guest. I know some designs deliberately utilise holes as part of their design. But these holes aren’t deliberate. And I don’t like the holes.

But I carried on, of course. I just wanted to see how it finished.

Now it doesn’t look appealing at all isn’t it? Another thing that I found slightly awkward is the toe part. It looks really pointy, but it probably looks better later when it is sewn together. But I should do it later because if I sew it now, there is possibility that I would never finish the second sock.

Apparently Second Sock Syndrome is real. I am not taking my chance.

 

x ❤ x

Little Piggy’s Bargain Hunting

No.

As much as I want to, I didn’t participate in any of the show. I was talking about going to charity shops with my husband and finding some really good bargain (at least according to me). Talking about charity shop…

I have to say that these shops are brilliant. We don’t have things like this in Indonesia and I believe we should! It is just a wonderful way to help as many people as possible, while including as many people as possible. 1) People who have money could just donate money. 2) People who don’t have money could donate while recycling their old stuff. 3) People who are poor could get cheap stuff, while at the same time donating.

I think charity shop is the solution.

Well.. Feeling charitable, I bought these:

And, another one that I have already opened for my next little project. Socks, using straight needles. I suppose it must have been stored somewhere for ages as it has a “dusty” kind of smell (dustmites?) that has triggered my allergies. Been sniffling all weekends 😦

I have to say that I have never used wool as thin as this is. It also feels a little bit wiry and scruffy. I am not sure if it would still feel like that after it is knitted and probably washed, but for now… well… I am glad I am not making a top or jumper with it. Being said that, I think it is a nice yarn to handle, easy on my needles as well.

Hm… Knitting socks using straight needles. Interesting isn’t it?

x ❤ x

Little Piggy’s WIP Fling

I am not really good at this am I? The sporadic posting, the jumping from one project to the other. I thought I would be able t finish the cross stitch before doing something else. But then, not only my wrist got a little bit sore, I also got extremely bored with the slow progress.

It has to wait. I don’t want to push too much, and like the last time would injure my wrist.

Yes… I am still dealing with frogging every now and then. I know… I know, count twice, stitch once. But I have counted so many times and yet I still made mistakes. I blame it to my astigmatism.

So, I decided to stop for awhile, at least until my wrist gets better, or I stop feeling bored. Whichever one happens first.

Instead of finishing my cross stitch, I made another pair of socks. The same pattern with the one I made earlier but different colour. I don’t think my husband could have too many socks. I wonder if one day could be as proficient in making socks as other bloggers I am following.

I have to say, I am quite enjoying this socks making thing. I think I might as well go to ravelry again to get some more beginner’s patterns.

Socks for summer, for example?

The finished product. I forgot to take photo, until my husband wore it, and refused to take it off for me -_-‘

Little Piggy’s Big Revelation

Who knows that it could be snowing like this in March. I am talking about two days ago when I woke up finding that it was completely white outside. The day was basically consisted of snowing and hailing taking turn — making the day freezing cold.

I was thinking of going to the shop, but… nope. I don’t think so.

So, I decided to just sit in the sofa, watching Criminal Minds episodes under my nice soft warm fluffy blanket. I thought, oh yeah. I remember Gary Sinise would have his own Criminal Minds team. I wished he would be Mr. Taylor again. You know he was Lieutenant Dan Taylor.. and then Mac Taylor. He could be Jim Taylor or… uh. Jack Garrett? Bit of disappointment…

My Gary Sinise daydream was abruptly interrupted by the clanking sound of my letter box. You know what it means? Means my Amazon order is here. The mailman was definitely the hero of the day.

It’s the wax!!
Hemline H228 Paraffin Wax For Coating Thread To Prevent Twisting & Knotting

You know. I mentioned the wax for the embroidery thread that I used for cross stitch? I wonder why I haven’t had this long time ago. It’s not only protect the thread from fraying, but also less chance of knotting too. We hate knotting don’t we? Stitching is much nicer with this.

It is easy to use as well. All I need to do is to run the thread in that little hole two or three times (making sure that the thread is well coated). And voila…

Here’s the progress. I can’t remember how many days have I been in this project. I have to say it is a bit slow. But hey! We can see something forming now.

 

x ❤ x

Little Piggy’s WIP

One day one frog. I am not happy with the way this cross stitch project went. I admit that i love the project and would like to see how it finish. I also enjoy the therapeutic session of stitching while watching TV – Castle for example is pretty distracting. 

This is how day 2 looks like:

 
Someone asked me about this project. But this is one of few kits I bought from eBay, which I suspect was piracy somewhere else. So, I will show you the progress and probably the end result, but I am not going to help these people selling piracy products.

So, after a series of frogging, this is what day 3 looks like: 

  
Shit! Wolverine is on telly. Maybe I should stitch when telly is off…