Moving!

Hello, I'm glad that you've found your way to my knitting blog, but I will be moving to Purplebeccablog.blogspot.com where I will feel a little more free to discuss more than just craft related stuff! Please come on over, hopefully there will be a recent post.

The Sweater Saga and a Crochet leaf pattern

I wanted to share the little pattern I came up with to crochet leaves, its after my sweater rant, below.

So about a month ago I woke up one Saturday morning and decided that what I needed in my life was a little discipline. I'm out of school now and I guess I was scared that I'd forget how to follow instructions. This concern led me to decide that what I needed was to challenge myself by attempting a knitting project completely out of character: a sweater knitted from a pattern. So I made my boyfriend (for some reason I couldn't drive myself on this very important mission) drive me to the bookstore to pick up a fancy knitting book with patterns that looked like something I actually would want to wear without changing up too much. After parking myself on the floor in front of the knitting section with several books open for quite some time, (My boyfriend tried to act like he didn't know me by looking at something else but then the computer books were just further down the same isle) I decided on French Girl Knits. The book is gorgeous and it looked like it had lots of committed followers on ravelry. So I got to work on a lovely sleeveless tunic and I am still working on it. Lace is lovely, but I am so slow at knitting it! Following directions, when it comes to a medium that can be quite creative, is just not my strong suit. No pictures of the sweater yet because the lace inserts had to be washed because I got chocolate all over them, and the other completed panel is being held together by a stitch holder on one side and the strap I took off my wallet on the other side (when you knit at work you have to be resourceful sometimes).

Speaking of directions, I've come up with a new little pattern to make leaves. Leaves are a big part of the more purplebecca-style stuff I usually do. This may seem a little simplistic to you hard core crochet types, but I was really pleased to find a way to get a teardrop shape as opposed to the diamond I usually end up with. Since, as you've probably gathered, I'm not that into reading patterns I don't know all the crochet jargon yet, but here's the pattern in English.

1. Place a slip knot on the hook, chain one
2. crochet into stitch just created
3. turn, crochet twice into stitch
4. turn, crochet 2
5. turn, crochet twice into each stitch
6. turn ,crochet 4
7. turn, crochet 1, crochet twice into each of the next two stitches, crochet one
8. Turn, crochet 6
9. Turn, crochet 2, crochet twice into each of the next two stitches, crochet 2
10. turn crochet 8
11. Continue in this manner until leaf is two rows shorter than desired length
12. Turn, crochet 2 together, crochet to center, then crochet twice into each of the center 2 stitches, as in steps 7 and 9, crochet to last two stitches, and crochet last two together.
13. Turn, crochet all stitches across.

This can be used to make leaves or flower petals, or rain drops, or anything you want!

Maybe this first sweater is a practice run

Camel Motif

I have a friend who is really into bactrian camels and wants a hat featuring such animals. I worked up this motif pattern and you are welcome to it. I really like the way the stitches mimic the hairiness of the camels.

As you can see, Rocky helped and looked sad. He always looks like that.

coin purse

I needed to take a break from the new york times bags to make something a little more my style. I started this little thing while babysitting last night and finished it up this afternoon. I think I'll sew a zipper in and use it to hold all of those little cards that have accumulated in my wallet.

I think that I was a little inspired by one of the blogs I've been reading lately, especially on the back.

I want to be the Marc Bolan of knitting

A lofty goal to be sure.
Over the past few months my obsessions have progressed in the following order:
The movie Velvet Goldmine: The soundtrack for Velvet Goldmine: The Song 2HB from said soundtrack: Looking into real glam rock bands: T-Rex (fronted by Mr. Bolan)

Wow, T-rex was amazing. I'm an American from the south so my education in classic rock was somehow completely devoid of this band, but now I've discovered them and I'm really glad. You should certainly do a you-tube search for the band to find some music videos.

How does this relate to knitting? I don't really know, but I think it has something to do with art. Knitting may not be a high form of art, but to avoid the dilettantism that I am so prone to I decided a couple of years ago that I was only going to express my creative drive through yarn-based activities. Its cleaner and more mobile than other such forms of self-expression. Although I certainly do manage to make a mess. I was never particularly good at any one of the hobbies I had taken up so I thought some focus may be just the ticket. I promised myself that if I wanted to make something that I would have to figure out how to make it with knitting needles or crochet hooks and other such fiber art paraphernalia.

I want to knit in a joyful individual kind of way that will make all of the frustrations of the craft totally worth it. That's the feeling I get from watching Marc Bolan perform...he looks like he's having a blast while being innovative and artistic. None of that Billy Corgan tortured soul stuff (ask me about the time I met Mr. Corgan). Sharing yourself through your desired medium can be joyful without being fluff, and that is what I strive to.

Is this whole thing a bit to grandiose? I'm just a girl who likes to knit funny little flowery shapes and try to make something useful out of them. But I think even if you're making piggy banks out of laundry detergent bottles (like that episode of Malcolm in the middle where the mom loses it) having such a motivation would still be valid.

Anyway...would anyone wear a scarf shaped like a lizard?

Plarn!

hello, I am sorry for the long long absence.

I finished my thesis about 2 hours ago.

Wow.

Now I can knit again.

This is the only thing I've created since my last post (except for 15,000 words about plant disease resistance {Viva la RESISTANCE!})

I'm taking a current events course this semester, and all of the students are required to subscribe to the New York Times. The times, you see, is delivered to your doorstep in these lovely blue plastic bags. Now, back in my DIY junkie days I had seen patterns for making things out of plastic bags and as soon as I saw these things I knew I'd be saving them.

But

then

My pack rattiness went to the next level. In a fit of insanity I e-mailed my professor and asked her if I could ask the WHOLE class (and its a big 'un) to bring me thier New York Times bags.

And they did....

And I have a large amount of bags in our apartment.

And I have finished a single solitary bag because I've had a cumulitive 3 hours to make creative messes since February.

But it looks like my summer work schedule is going to have lots of bus riding so I'll have lots of time to make more plarn bags. They'll be posted to my etsy as I finish them!

Yarn Dyeing!!!

I'm not sure if I'm tearing up from the watching the inauguration or from the fumes of dyeing.

I've decided to celebrate my last day with no classes and the new president by dying up some yarn. This is how it came out.

And this is what my hand looks like.

Yep, that's my Christmas Tree in the background...I like to keep it up until Easter.

We won't even get into what the kitchen looks like. I'll be spending the rest of the day trying to make it look like nothing even happened before my boyfriend gets home. Maybe I can convince him that our cabinets have always had a green tint to them.

One chihuahua is cute, two is an infestation

Although it is the cutest infestation ever! We're dogsitting and my life is very chihuahuaful at the moment. That's all...I really should get back to working on my thesis.

Mwah!

iGoogle How to of the Day, or How Does Google Know So Much About Me?

I don't know if everyone who signs in to igoogle has this, but on my page there is a section called "How to of the Day". How can a person like me resist seeing what is up there everyday? I mean, I obsessively watched DIY network to the neglect of my school work, apartment, and personal hygiene until all of my favorite shows got cancelled. Needless to say, I usually end up reading whatever article is up there. I am a little concerned though, and I am fully aware that expressing this concern will make me sound like a conspiracy theorizing narcissist.



I feel like google is trying to tell me something.



It was all fine and great back when the topics coming up were things like "How to take better pictures" ( http://www.wikihow.com/Take-Better-Photographs) or "How to make a yarn octopus", (http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Yarn-Octopus). You know these are things that I genuinely want to know how to do.

But

Lately, the How tos of the day have been getting a little personal. "How to Lose Belly Fat" (http://www.wikihow.com/Lose-Belly-Fat), "How to Stop Being so Needy" (,http://www.wikihow.com/Stop-Being-Needy) "How to Stop Procrastinating"(http://www.wikihow.com/Stop-Procrastinating). Then, the worst one so far "6 Ways to be More Feminine." (http://www.wikihow.com/Be-Feminine) OK, igoogle I get it...hints taken.

jeez.

Scrumble is now a hat

That little scrumble piece that I posted a picture of a few back is now a lovely little had. I'm really pleased with it, and it was so fast to make! the entire thing is crochet, which may be a first for me.

So I haven't knitted anything for my boyfriend ever because I've been afraid of the knitter's myth. For the uninitiated the myth is that as soon as you finish a knitting project for a signifigant other, he/she will leave your life. The only other boy I've knitted something for did leave soon after I finished it (although, I did kind of know that it would happen). Now I've been with my current boyfriend for nearly 4 years so I'm probably just being silly. I was wondering if there is any crocheter's myth? Could I crochet him a hat without any fear?

Fractal Necklace

I've noticed a trend: As soon as I post something on this blog of about a work in progress, I instantly loose any interest in working on it. That being said, I'm kind of scared that the flower I knitted up and posted yesterday was a little too normal for my sensibilities. I just didn't put in the amount of creativity into it that I like to. Not to say that it wasn't a usefull experience because I was playing with some new increasing/decreasing techniques while working on it. You see, other than the knit stitch, I've mostly taught myself to knit so there are still some things that I'm still picking up on. Here's what I just learned K2tog and SSK are mirror images of eachother, K2tog and sl k psso are NOT.

Speaking of getting technique down, I've noticed that my DVR has started showing up with Knitty Gritty episodes again. They're not new, and are coming on in the wee hours of the morning, but I'm still happy to watch it again!

This has all been preamble to present the Fractal Necklace that I knitted yesterday. I picked up the coral-colored yarn to add on to the darned flower, but ended up with this. Its very much inspired by one of my favorite classes I've taken at college: Plan II Math. Or as I like to call it "Math for Hippies". We learned about all kinds of fun math like fibonacci numbers, platonic solids, topology, mobius bands, the fourth dimension, and fractals. Here's my knitted
interpretation of a very simple fractal:

Update: Knitted Virus

I mentioned in an earlier blog that I wanted to attempt a knitted virus, so I've done some more searching into what had already been done.

Here are some fabulous virus doilies

http://laurasplan.com/ (click doilies)

They are based on images of viruses and made by sewing machine

She really captures the intricate beauty of the viruses.

I found a couple of other pictures that look sort of like knitted balls covered in bumps.

Most of what I found are based on pictures of viruses, and I would like to work from the protein structure of it, which I think would fit in nicely to my modular style

but first I need to finish this project:

hopefully it will eventually look like this, but more knitty:

New Things

I hope everyone had fabulous Christmases and New Years!

I finished another scarflette over the holidays and just got it listed to etsy

I started to fall in love with it during my "photo shoot" but lets face it, I have a scarf for every scarf-worthy day of cold we get down here in Texas.

I also started working on something else using the same yarns, but I'm not sure what yet.
Another Scarflette or purse? I was also thinking maybe hat...it would be some work to figure out the geometry, but I think that it could end up being quite aesthetically pleasing.

I'm trying to embrace the crochet more. I'm just coming to realize that the things that I want to make just make more sense with crochet than knit. Its more willing to be formed around the curves and corners that I love to make. Maybe I'm having a fiber identity crisis.

I also got a new camera for Christmas, so hopefully I can post more often because I won't have to wait for my boyfriend to bring his home from work anymore. Likewise, I am trying to improve the pictures on my etsy page. It is not going all that well so far because I haven't been able to get the light right yet. Honestly, I think the best ones are the ones I've taken in the bathroom! Oh well, practice practice practice.