Welcome to the blog of a young male knitter!



Thursday, February 23, 2012

Now they let me post!

Okay, I've been having a lot of issues. Now that I've more or less got all those issues solved, the thing that gave me those issues in the first place is acting all . . . normal. Anyway, I had a lot of issues with blogger today, and now well, just type this:

http://www.garretknitsohio.wordpress.com/ into your address box. That's where all the new content will be. I'm still working all the bugs out of that site, so forgive me. I've had a lot of fun here at blogger, and I hope that it will continue at wordpress. I'm going to try and import all the blogger archives, but that may not happen. If not, then I'll try to put a link on the new blog to this blog.

Click the Link!!!

Monday, February 20, 2012

I am knitting a blanket -- it is making me nuts (more!)

And as much as I really do want to stop, I don't think that I can. I've maintained a remarkable amount of monogamy on this go at this blanket. (Granted, the first blanket took a feat of skill that I CAN'T reproduce.) I did have a few little things on the side, but those are mostly gone by now. I even put the hat upstairs because, as long as this blanket is taking, the hat is moving about as slow. (I don't like that I've been knitting a hat for over a week.)

Now, I sit on my couch night after night, knitting squares like some obsessive freak. I'm almost done with number five out of nine. This will take a while longer. I don't know how much longer I'll be able to stick to these little squares, though I bet it will be a while longer that I think it will be. I'm like an old married couple with this blanket. I may thing about knitting on other things, even dream about it, but I always go back to that blanket.

So, what's some of the other things that I'm thinking about knitting. (Oh no, my dream knitting is more entertaining than my actual knitting.) Well, thats's a funny story. I still need a new hat, but I like my hats to be quick fixes. I want to knit something for me with a shawl collar. I also want to knit myself a garter stitch yoke sweater with a placket opening. (Now there's a knitterly sentence, even half of them won't know what I mean.) I would like to knit some socks, not because I really want to, but because I need some. I feel like I should do something out of handspun. Any way that I can combine all of these?

Sorry this entry is so . . . ramble-y. I've spent all morning working on edits, and let's just say, it ain't pretty. I make a lot of mistakes and I tend to be kind of a wordy writer. We can't have that, so I must make my sentences flow a little bit more. I've seen more words than I've spoken today, and it is nothing short of a miracle that I can string a sentence, let alone a blog post together. Expect me to have shoddy posts with poor pictures, if any, for a while. My gammer will be worse, if even possible, and my spelling will be appalling as always. All my energy for proofreading goes there, not here, which is a shame, as this is guaranteed  to be published. Sigh, fish got to swim, knitter's got to knit, writers got to . . . edit.

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

You Make me feel like Dancing

Want to Dance the night away.

Am I the only one out there who gets that song stuck in their head whenever the finish a pair of socks. Really, only me, oh well, moving on.

I really do love these things too. I finished them up last night while I was ignoring everything else. You may have your Valentine, but I've got my socks to keep my feet warm at night. Since a picture is worth a thousand words, let these photos do the talking.



The pattern is my own basic sock pattern, the yarn is I think Serenity Sock Yarn. I love this colorway, but I lost the label because, the one thing I shouldn't throw away, I do.

I'm still working on the blanket, but I've been a little busy so progress is minimal. I've had a few great distractions, like finishing up these socks and a hat. (More on the hat later.) And, even with the distractions I still can think of like a dozen things that I MUST knit right now.

And now I have to clean, Clean ,CLEAN!

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Coming up for Air

I've just re-surfaced from reading a book, and for a day and a half I was in a state of rapture as I'm wont to do when I have one I'm in love with. I move about my day as planned, but I just punctuate the day with reading. There was actually one point yesterday where I shoved the book to the back of the closet to keep myself from reading it.

When I have a good book, at least in winter, I bury myself in the couch with it, and just ready until my eyes go blurry and teary. Late into the night I read, and the next day I take a bath so that way I have an excuse to devour the book till the water's cold. During the summer I spend hours out on the porch swing the words moving through my mind as the swing goes "squeak squeak."

What is this book you ask? Well, this is a little embarrassing, not a lot, but a little. I wasn't engrossed in a lovely Austen or Bronte. If I was, then I would be going around saying things like: "I am deeply honored by your proposal, but I'm afraid that I cannot except it, my feelings in every respect forbid it. Can we speak any plainer?" (I think they could speak a little plainer myself.)

Or I would be running around banging my head into trees and shouting "Heathcliff!"

This was just a dippy little David Sedaris book. When You're Engulfed in Flames. I personally range from thinking that it's either a really cool, or really disturbing title. It was laugh out loud funny, though there are a few times where he strikes a cord with me, and either makes me feel like a great person, or a piece of trash. I think that's more my issues than his, and I'll keep reading him. It's probably the mark of a good author who can make you feel many emotions.

I love reading, but there were a few years where I didn't really like it, probably because I removed from all good books, the only things I had to read were the aforementioned Austen and Bronte, (which are good books, but a touch exhausting if you know what I mean) and romance novels. (I could have gone to the library and gotten books, but that would have involved paying the fine.) Then a used book shop moved in about a mile from my house and I've had all sorts of access to great books at great prices. I counted the other day and I've got about thirty books from that shop and I've read most of them.

I think I'm going to go crack open a book. Edith Wharton's next.

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Short for two reasons (kind of)

Number one: I am reading a really good book that I don't want to put down. I'm sure you know the feeling.

Number Two: I over slept, and I'm starting to finally get over that two hours I wasted on sleep. (I really only got up like one hour later than usual. I just happen to oversleep everyday and I've adjusted to it.) Suffice to say that catching up involves no yoga, and moving like I'm on coke for large portions of the day. (Where I usually bust a move to clean the house and get stuff done and then use yoga to slow down a little)

And the T on my key board is all funky today so I have to just keep tapping it until it works, I've lost a lost of time to that, and thinking up words that don't use a T.  If there are a few words that don't have a T in them when they should, that is why. I use the T a lot.

And I got a really cool and really weird letter today, and I want to write back as soon as I can. So, let's move on to the blog, and leave the excuses behind. (As far as excuses go though, I must say that they are pretty good ones)

Promised Pics! Splashy Colorful Blankets!

The ones that are already done

The one in progress

Monday, February 6, 2012

The Blanket

I've found the project to resurrect (actually, I found it five days ago). I am utterly taken with it, inasmuch as I can be taken with acres of garter stitch. I love this project, and there is only one thing wrong with it . . . it will be unbelievably boring to watch me knit it. I'll show you a pick of it in a day or two, but, right now hauling out the camera and the squares seems like all to much work. (Probably because I'm just poking my head in here so I can say that I'll post at least twice a week. )

Two years ago, when I really wasn't blogging -- I had a blog, this one, I just didn't care about it, and was really almost ashamed of it. I knit a huge blanket. (Odd, knitting something and NOT talking about it!) It was many colors, loud, and was very creative. I knit it in about a month (It was before I took writing as seriously as I do now, and also before two different volunteer positions) before it was done. It took me longer to weave in the ends than it did to knit the blanket. (You'll see what I mean when I show it to you.)

Anyway, I knit the exact same blanket two years ago, and then I gave it away. I planned to give it away, and I knew that the recipients would be very happy with it, so that was all right. But, as I handed over the blanket, I swore that I would knit myself one just as much like that as I could. Most of the colors were chosen at random, so having the yarn wouldn't be a problem, I would just follow the same pattern.

The thing is, after a couple squares (there are nine) you start to get a little tired of the pattern already. You've still got tons left to knit, and by the end you feel like you're knitting wall-to-wall carpeting. The first time I knit it I'm not really sure what kept me from going nuts about it.

Then last summer I cast on for my replica. I knit about two squares and stuffed it away for months. Now it's back, and I'm going to ride this obsession till it drops dead. I hope that I'll have a blanket at that end of it, but who knows.

Now that I'm re-knitting, it, I can remember what kept me so . . . enthralled on the last one. I remember now. I challenged myself to see how fast I could knit them. How long each strip would take me. I agonized about the color choice and needles I used. (Agony is only good when it's over books and knitting.) I knit on the first blanket everywhere. In the car, outdoors, staying up late to see if I could knit three blocks in a week. This blanket was so much fun, even if I wanted to strangle by myself by the end of it. (I swear, if past Garret could hear me say that knitting that thing was fun he'd hit me so hard I couldn't remember how to knit.)

I'm thinking about moving off of blogger, and onto a more user friendly web host. Do you think that is a good idea? Of course, you probably can't tell me that unless you have a blogger account or a PhD in how computers work. I should go and do a little shopping around.