Got the world on a string...and I can make the rain go...
Since I made my first Poverty Projects post, my knitting projects plans have undergone some shifts. For one thing, I keep knitting squares. Partially because I'm not satisfied with previous ones, and partially because they're fairly quick and simple.
I think I'll be moving on past squares now (not that I won't still be knitting them; just that they won't be my only projects on the needles). As a modification to the list in that post, I'll be starting with:
-some washclothes (which can also be donated)
-a cat blanket for my kitties
(They like to take turns sleeping in this open box in the basement, and they especially like it when we pile one of our afghans in it. Unfortunately, anything they lie on a lot obviously gets covered in cat hair - to the point where it isn't even washable anymore. And I don't want that to happen to our afghans. So I'm making them a blanket to line the box with.)
After THAT, scarves. Really.
And just in case you were wondering if I'm making this up (hey, if you knew how hopeless I am with my hands, you might!), here's a project dump! This may not be that interesting to other people (truthfully, these all look pretty much the same), but I like the idea of keeping records of what I've made - especially since most of it will be leaving my house and heading to various donation bins.
We can't get digital pictures onto our computer at the moment, so these are all scans. Squares are flat, so they aren't TOO bad to scan. The color is a bit funny when first scanned, though. I did my best to clean these up in Photoshop [CS2], but there's only so much I could do - these would definitely look slightly different in natural light.
(There's four images behind the cuts, and each of them SHOULD take about 10 seconds or so to load on a 56k modem. Unless Photoshop lies to me, which is always possible.)
Okay, the very first square I knitted I scanned and saved at 140 dpi for some silly reason, so it's about twice as large as the other images. So I'm just going to link to it:
The Barbie skirt square!
I call it that because really, it looks like the front half of a Barbie skirt. If I made another and sewed them together... But I digress. The top edge there is my mother's cast-on. The difference between her stitches and mine is fairly obvious.
My mother assured me, however, that I could still donate this. She told me that many of the squares donated are not exactly 8x8 inches because people use those squares to practice all sorts of new techniques...and then donate them regardless of how they turn out. "Someone will match them up as best as they can," she said. So I donated it after all.
Here's Square #2:
This is probably the closest to an actual SQUARE that I've managed so far. I believe it was 7¾x8 inches when I was done.
Up near the top is a little dent, yes? I managed to knit the loose end into the square, and when I discovered this and pulled it out, there was a hole. (#CQT4$%BK(8FUCK.) Mom sorta tied it together or something somehow. I have no idea what she did. But it's not coming loose, which is what matters.
Square #3:
This was me learning to purl. I bitched and complained about it, but now I like purling better than the knit stitch. Go figure.
My purling ended up being looser than my knit stitch, however. (Apparently, this is common.) Unfortunately for me, this is the square I decided to ADD two stitches to, in hopes that this would actually get me an 8x8 inch square. Instead, I ended up with a 9x8 inch...uh, rectangle. *sighs* Oh, well!
As you can see, I had to turn this square sideways to fit it on the scanner.
I dislike the cast-on edge (left edge there), because it's obviously looser. Not sure why, since I could swear I didn't do anything differently.
Square #4:
...Well. There SHOULD be an image here, but there actually isn't. Reason being that this square - the stockinette one I wanted to try - is still on the dang needles. I dropped a stitch or something, and I can't fix it on my own. Mom needs to help me when we get some time together. Frustrating, because it's a half-row and the cast-off from being finished.
So. No image yet!
I had the same problem with the cast-on edge, too, but since the end rolls up, it's not very visible. Yay.
Square #5:
This is the latest square, with my own recently-bought yarn, the "Surf & Turf" stuff. I like the colors! They're pretty. Although I guess I expected less...random striping. So that was interesting.
I purled this one, too, since I now find it so much easier than the knit stitch. (I know I shouldn't let myself be too lazy there, so the next thing I do, I promise to knit.) I'm probably most pleased with the consistency of this one.
But it's still 8¾x8 inches. *sighs* I took off the extra two stitches, but I thought it might help to go up a needle size (to a U.S. 9). Evidently I misunderstood something. Mom was trying to explain to me that changing needle size mostly only changes the density of the finished fabric.
Oh, well!
And just for fun, I have one more image here. I scanned in the last square I did while I was working on it, just to see if I could show you guys one pair of my translucent needles. And if I turn them at an angle, it doesn't work out too badly!
The last square on the needles:
Those are the U.S. 9s. (Admittedly, one of the main reasons I figured I'd go up a size is that the 8s in this set are lavender...while these are teal. *shrugs*)
Cool, huh? You can see each stitch on the opposite side of the needle with these things, which is less annoying than you'd think.
The one thing about these (besides the squeaking) is that they obviously fall apart easily - I've already got chipping around the tips. *shrugs* Well, they were cheap.
Okay, so that's it! Gonna go look for basic cat blanket patterns now. I have to hit the library, but I figure I can grab some more cheap yarn for said blanket while I'm out.
*waves to his list*
I think I'll be moving on past squares now (not that I won't still be knitting them; just that they won't be my only projects on the needles). As a modification to the list in that post, I'll be starting with:
-some washclothes (which can also be donated)
-a cat blanket for my kitties
(They like to take turns sleeping in this open box in the basement, and they especially like it when we pile one of our afghans in it. Unfortunately, anything they lie on a lot obviously gets covered in cat hair - to the point where it isn't even washable anymore. And I don't want that to happen to our afghans. So I'm making them a blanket to line the box with.)
After THAT, scarves. Really.
And just in case you were wondering if I'm making this up (hey, if you knew how hopeless I am with my hands, you might!), here's a project dump! This may not be that interesting to other people (truthfully, these all look pretty much the same), but I like the idea of keeping records of what I've made - especially since most of it will be leaving my house and heading to various donation bins.
We can't get digital pictures onto our computer at the moment, so these are all scans. Squares are flat, so they aren't TOO bad to scan. The color is a bit funny when first scanned, though. I did my best to clean these up in Photoshop [CS2], but there's only so much I could do - these would definitely look slightly different in natural light.
(There's four images behind the cuts, and each of them SHOULD take about 10 seconds or so to load on a 56k modem. Unless Photoshop lies to me, which is always possible.)
Okay, the very first square I knitted I scanned and saved at 140 dpi for some silly reason, so it's about twice as large as the other images. So I'm just going to link to it:
The Barbie skirt square!
I call it that because really, it looks like the front half of a Barbie skirt. If I made another and sewed them together... But I digress. The top edge there is my mother's cast-on. The difference between her stitches and mine is fairly obvious.
My mother assured me, however, that I could still donate this. She told me that many of the squares donated are not exactly 8x8 inches because people use those squares to practice all sorts of new techniques...and then donate them regardless of how they turn out. "Someone will match them up as best as they can," she said. So I donated it after all.
Here's Square #2:
This is probably the closest to an actual SQUARE that I've managed so far. I believe it was 7¾x8 inches when I was done.
Up near the top is a little dent, yes? I managed to knit the loose end into the square, and when I discovered this and pulled it out, there was a hole. (#CQT4$%BK(8FUCK.) Mom sorta tied it together or something somehow. I have no idea what she did. But it's not coming loose, which is what matters.
Square #3:
This was me learning to purl. I bitched and complained about it, but now I like purling better than the knit stitch. Go figure.
My purling ended up being looser than my knit stitch, however. (Apparently, this is common.) Unfortunately for me, this is the square I decided to ADD two stitches to, in hopes that this would actually get me an 8x8 inch square. Instead, I ended up with a 9x8 inch...uh, rectangle. *sighs* Oh, well!
As you can see, I had to turn this square sideways to fit it on the scanner.
I dislike the cast-on edge (left edge there), because it's obviously looser. Not sure why, since I could swear I didn't do anything differently.
Square #4:
...Well. There SHOULD be an image here, but there actually isn't. Reason being that this square - the stockinette one I wanted to try - is still on the dang needles. I dropped a stitch or something, and I can't fix it on my own. Mom needs to help me when we get some time together. Frustrating, because it's a half-row and the cast-off from being finished.
So. No image yet!
I had the same problem with the cast-on edge, too, but since the end rolls up, it's not very visible. Yay.
Square #5:
This is the latest square, with my own recently-bought yarn, the "Surf & Turf" stuff. I like the colors! They're pretty. Although I guess I expected less...random striping. So that was interesting.
I purled this one, too, since I now find it so much easier than the knit stitch. (I know I shouldn't let myself be too lazy there, so the next thing I do, I promise to knit.) I'm probably most pleased with the consistency of this one.
But it's still 8¾x8 inches. *sighs* I took off the extra two stitches, but I thought it might help to go up a needle size (to a U.S. 9). Evidently I misunderstood something. Mom was trying to explain to me that changing needle size mostly only changes the density of the finished fabric.
Oh, well!
And just for fun, I have one more image here. I scanned in the last square I did while I was working on it, just to see if I could show you guys one pair of my translucent needles. And if I turn them at an angle, it doesn't work out too badly!
The last square on the needles:
Those are the U.S. 9s. (Admittedly, one of the main reasons I figured I'd go up a size is that the 8s in this set are lavender...while these are teal. *shrugs*)
Cool, huh? You can see each stitch on the opposite side of the needle with these things, which is less annoying than you'd think.
The one thing about these (besides the squeaking) is that they obviously fall apart easily - I've already got chipping around the tips. *shrugs* Well, they were cheap.
Okay, so that's it! Gonna go look for basic cat blanket patterns now. I have to hit the library, but I figure I can grab some more cheap yarn for said blanket while I'm out.
*waves to his list*