Knit Your Own Harry Potter House Scarf Blanket

Guys.  Remember how I've been saying for like, months, how I was working on something I was super excited about but couldn't really talk about it because it was a Christmas present?  Well, this is it.  This is the thing.  It's a Harry Potter House Scarf Blanket.  Now, I don't know if this is something that's been done before.  It probably has.  It doesn't seem like it's the biggest revelation in my life, but I was determined to try to figure this out on my own-ish.  I say "ish" because I did end up modifying a scarf pattern, but I didn't go out of my way to find a pattern for this specific project as I really wanted to try to figure it out.  And I did.  And I loved the journey!

Now, if you know me and/or have been following my blog, then you know that I'm a Slytherin, so obviously, it did hurt me just a little bit to be going on this adventure with a Gryffindor scarf blanket, but I really wanted to make this for my Aunt Ginny, as she's one of the biggest Harry Potter fans I know and was the one who ended up convincing me to start reading the books when I was trying to find myself a new fandom.  I thought it would be appropriate that she be the first recipient of this, but you better believe that I bought myself some yarn to make a Slytherin one for myself in the very near future!

Something worth mentioning is that I'm still very much a beginner knitter, so if you are as well or you don't even know how to knit but would like to learn and give this a try, don't let it intimidate you.  Switching colors is really easy; more than anything it's just more annoying at the end having to weave in so many ends.  This is a really great project for beginners, I think, since it gets you used to knitting, purling and switching colors.  There are tons of great tutorials on YouTube that you can seek out to help you learn if this is something you'd like to try!

So as I mentioned, I did modify the blanket from this pattern, but since I wasn't using the exact yarn she was using I had to do some modifications as far as the gauge went.  There was a lot of math and I was so happy to have the gauge calculator I mentioned in this post handy because I don't know that I would have figured everything out as easily without it! 

Initially I had planned on making the blanket 81" x 60".  Because apparently I had planned on working on this for the rest of my life?  I think I ended up making it 60" wide, because that's as wide as my measuring tape went.  I think the blanket ended up being 50-something" long.  It would have been helpful to measure before I actually gifted it, eh?  But I didn't, so I'm unsure.  But you can make it whatever size you would like.  If you want to make it small for a baby or large for a blanket to put on your bed, you can do it all.

Also.  I feel like yarn is such a personal thing.  There are people out there who feel very strongly about only using natural fibers (like my knitting teacher annoyingly was), and there are people who don't care.  I'm in the don't care boat, only because natural fiber yarn can get quite pricey and when you're making a large project like a blanket, that can end up adding up really quickly.  So use what you're able to afford.  

For this blanket, I used the Red Heart Super Saver Economy Yarn in Burgundy for the red and then Red Heart Super Saver Yarn in Gold for the stripes.  I found this did me well, as I think I probably spent less then $20 on all of this and still have some left over for some future Gryffindor projects (which, sadly, there are).  Both of these skeins are Size 4 yarn and I used a 8 US sized needle. 

Since I was using the intended needle size for this yarn, I was able to see off the label that the gauge was 23 rows in a 4x4 square and able to figure everything out from there.  Again, you can refer to my gauge post if you're using a different yarn or needle size.  I will say that in the middle of making this blanket I started working on a bigger scarf for my brother using Size 5 or 6 yarn and 13 US size needles and everything worked up so quickly that when I came back to working on this blanket I wanted to cry over how long it took to get a row done!  So if you don't feel like spending a ton of time on this, you can certainly use bulkier yarn to have it work up super quickly.

The pattern I worked with is as follows:

MC = Main Color (Red, Green, Yellow or Blue depending on your house)

SC = Stripe Color (Gold, Silver, Black or Bronze/Silver depending on your house)

- Long tail cast- on (or cast-on of your preference) as wide as you would like.  I did mine to 60".

- 28 rows of MC working in stockinette stitch (alternate between one row of knitting/one row of purl).  Slip 1st stitch on each row purl-wise and knit last stitch on each row, on every single row after you cast on.

- 4 rows of SC

- 6 rows of MC

- 4 rows of SC

- Repeat 28/4/6/4 pattern as many times as needed.

- 28 rows of MC

- Cast-off

Again, use your gauge to figure out how long you're going to make this, or just work on it until you think it's going to be long enough.  Sometimes that's kind of fun to just keep working it up.  For instance, I thought I would be repeating the 28/4/6/4 nine times, but I think I ended up only doing it 6 or 7 times, both because I was running out of time and I also forget that my Aunt is quite a bit shorter than I am so the blanket didn't need to be from my head to toe to cover her.

Also, the sides and the bottom of my blanket ended up rolling up.  I'm not 100% sure why that was, but it isn't the biggest deal.  It's just an aesthetic thing, it doesn't really affect anything and honestly I don't even know how to begin to fix it even if I wanted to.  Hopefully on my next go I can try to correct it or figure out why it's rolling.  If you have any idea please let me know!

Also, if you plan on gifting a blanket that you make, I thought this was a cute little tag to attach!  On the back side I put the care instructions from the yarn labels just in case anything happened, which is something I always do when I gift knitted goods.  There's nothing more frustrating than not knowing how to care for a garment you receive!

So that is it!  I really, really hope that this all made sense.  This is my first go at writing a pattern or really writing in-depth about a project that I made so I apologize if it's confusing.  Feel free to ask for clarification if  something confuses you!  And let me know if you plan on making this or if you have made something Harry Potter-inspired yourself!

Norah George Yarn Advent Calendar Unboxing

Gosh, it feels like forever since I last talked to you guys about anything that was knitting-related!  I guess probably because I was working on some top secret Christmas gifts, but you can expect a lot more coming soon, like very soon.  Probably next week!  There's a project I was working on for a Christmas gift that I am so insanely excited to share with you guys!

But that's something that's coming up.  Let's focus on today!  Every year for Christmas John and I get each other an advent calendar.  I never grew up with them but John did, and since he's obsessed with LEGO, I always get him the LEGO City Advent Calendar.  But I'm a little more tricky I guess.  I think last year I got the Benefit Advent Calendar, and since I didn't see anything makeup related that I was really excited about I didn't know what to do.  Then I saw Tracy from Norah George post on Instagram that she was doing a yarn advent calendar.  Like, what is life even?  That sounds divine.  So I sent the link over to John and crossed my fingers and I got it!

Now this is sock yarn/fingering weight yarn, something that I have absolutely no experience with but seems to be all you can get your hands on as far as indie brands on Etsy who hand-dye their yarn.  I've been scrolling through pages upon pages of yarn for months and months just drooling over how gorgeous all of these different skeins were so I thought this would be a great way to dip my toe in the yarn, especially since for the 24 days of advent gifts we got mini skeins.  I honestly don't really have any desire to ever make socks but I know there are so many more things that can be made with this weight of yarn.  So let's dive on in and see what I got!

One of the really nice things that she did for this advent calendar was give us two gifts to unwrap on December 1, as well as a gift to unwrap on Christmas!  For our December 1st gift, I got all of these goodies, each of which I didn't have but definitely needed.  We got these cute little scissors that are living happily in my kit that I keep in my project bag.  We also got these adorable charm stitch markers shaped like a snowflake, a candy cane and Santa's sleigh.  Lastly, we got this awesome row counter which has already come in handy for me as I'm working on a striped scarf for John.  To count each row you just hit the big button and it keeps track for you!  It also fits right around your finger, which is very convenient.

Each of the mini yarn skeins that were included in this calendar were named after Christmas songs, films, characters or song lyrics.  It was actually fun to think about what the skein might look like before unwrapping it.  I found that I was much less creative than Tracy!  Every skein that she dyed is a home run.  There isn't one that I don't love and it's even harder to pick a favorite!  Her yarn is all a mix of superwash merino and either nylon or nylon high twist.  I won't even pretend to know what any of that means haha I'm not too hip to the knitting lingo quite yet!

Left to Right:  Santa Claus is Coming to Town | Jingle Bells | Love Actually | 

Winter Wonderland | It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas |

Left to Right:  Blue Christmas | The Nightmare Before Christmas | A Christmas Carol |

Holly Jolly Christmas | The Grinch Who Stole Christmas |

Left to Right:  Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer | Baby, It's Cold Outside! | 

Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree | Joyeux Noel | Meet Me In St. Louis |

Left to Right:  The Muppet's Christmas Carol | White Christmas | Jingle All The Way |

Polar Express | Bad Santa |

Left To Right:  Scrooge | It's A Wonderful Life | Buddy The Elf | The Night Before Christmas |

GUH.  How beautiful are those?!  Can you pick a favorite?  Maybe you'll have better luck than me.  But hold onto your butts because the most beautiful one of all is about to show up.  I didn't know what to expect with the Christmas Day package, which was clearly a full-sized skein.  I thought maybe it would be extra Christmas-y with the red and green, but holy crap was I wrong.  Turns out it is the embodiment of princesses and fairies and heaven and fairytales and castles and flowers and fairy dust and unicorns and everything good that ever happened in the world.  I am in love.

 

 

Do you see the sparkles?!  This is just so beautiful.  I've been trying to think of something to make with it that is worthy of it's gorgeousness.  I'm thinking a shawl, but I'm going to work with some of the mini skeins before I feel comfortable with working with this weight of yarn.  There are a bunch of shawl patterns on Ravelry that I have favorited so I will have to narrow it all down eventually and pick one!

Did you get a fun advent calendar this year?  Let me know what you got!  And if you're a knitter or crocheter, let me know what some of your favorite projects to make are!  And what you would do with some of these mini skeins because I've been trying really hard to figure out what to do!

The Beginner Knitter's Guide To Using Gauge

Guys, can we talk about gauge for a minute?  I mean, it's going to be more than a minute given that the title of this post says this post is about gauge, but I had no idea how much help it can be when you're trying to figure out a project!  Whether you're trying to create something yourself or you just want to modify an existing pattern, gauge is going to be an absolute lifesaver.

What Is Gauge?

Gauge is essentially the amount of rows and stitches you get per inch of your knitting.  Now, keep in mind that everyone knits differently.  Some people are loose knitters, some people are tight knitters.  Heck, you could be a loose knitter one day and a tight knitter the next!  It can change and it's different for everyone.

Pretty much any yarn you buy is going to give you the gauge of the yarn.  Let's take a look at the picture above and go left to right.  First, you're going to see that the yarn weight is 3 (light).  This will also be a determining factor in your gauge.  Bulkier yarn or lighter yarn is going to make a giant difference in the way your piece knits.  Obviously, you can probably guess that a lighter yarn is going to give you more rows and stitches per inch, and bulkier yarn is going to give you less rows and stitches per inch.

Next on the label is the gauge.  You'll see that there are two different squares:  one has knitting needles and one has a crochet hook.  I'm sure you can guess that the one with knitting needles is what you should look at if you're knitting and the one with a crochet hook is what you should look at if you're crocheting.  You'll also notice on the inside of the square, there are indications of what size needles/hook they are using to calculate this gauge.

Along the sides of each square are numbers.  Along the top is the measurement of the square in centimeters, on the left is the measurement in inches, on the bottom is the number of stitches and on the right is the number of rows.  So, let's take a look at the knitting square.  In a 4x4 inch square, you are going to get 30 rows and 22.5 stitches.  If you want to find out how much that is per inch, all you have to do is divide those numbers by four.  So, you will get 7.5 rows and 5.6 stitches per inch if you use size 6 needles.  Easy, right?

Why Should I Use Gauge?

Let's talk about the picture above.  Those are two baby blankets that I worked on for two of my friends that are expecting this winter.  I made the peach blanket on the left first and wanted to come up with my own pattern.  It wasn't anything difficult by any means; I just wanted to make some stripes.  I found some measurements on Pinterest (which ended up being WAY too big) and decided to map out my pattern in inches because trying to figure out rows just seemed like too much work for me.  Well, that backfired on me.  When you're making a blanket of any kind, it eventually is going to start getting heavy so that when you lay it out to measure how much work you've done, it's entirely possible that your work is going to stretch.  I would measure my work, work several more rows, and when I would measure again somehow I would have less inches done than I did the last time I measured.

I've mentioned before how I didn't have the greatest knitting teacher this spring when my Mom and I got back into knitting.  I wasn't told anything about gauge and how to figure it out or how to modify it so in my mind, inches seemed like the way to go.  But after that whole experience, I realized that I needed to do something different.  One of the other big things I needed to factor in was my needle size.  I accidentally grabbed size 10 needles so my stitch ended up being looser, which I was fine with since I think a looser knit benefits a baby blanket.

On the yellow blanket, I was able to measure my gauge on the peach blanket so I could figure out the gauge and map out a better pattern.  This worked great and I had absolutely no issues with miscounting anything or worrying about stretching.  This was a million times less stressful than working in inches.

How Do I Use Gauge?

Using gauge to your advantage is crazy simple, but might need a little extra work on your part.  Let's take my above example for instance.  If I knew I wanted to use bigger needles than recommended for a piece, all I need to do is knit up a quick square and measure.  You can knit a 4x4 inch square quickly and it will save you a ton of headache down the line. 

 

Also, so you can get an idea, let's look at the above two pictures.  On the left, you'll see the baby blanket we were talking about already.  You'll see that the stitches look a heck of a lot looser than the blanket on the right, right?  Granted, these are two different stitches (on the left is just knitting, which is garter stitch; and on the right is knitting on the "right side" and purling on the "wrong side", which is called stockinette stitch), but there is a huge difference in the tightness of the knitting.  That is because I'm using the needle size that is recommended for the yarn on the right.

Also, with the project I'm working on on the right, I modified this from a pattern that is calling for size 2 needles and a yarn weight of 5.  I'm using size 8 needles and a yarn weight of 4.  This was one of my biggest projects with figuring out gauge and I did cheat a little bit because I found a site that will do all of the math for you!   It's meant for a sweater but you can certainly use it for anything.   The top portion of the page is helping you find the gauge and that's all you really need!

So, anyway, once you find your gauge then you can get to work on figuring out how go about your project.  For the yellow blanket, I found that I could knit 8 rows per inch.  I wanted my blanket to be around 40 inches long and have some stripes.  I was able to do some math and figure out how I wanted to map out my stripes in order to fit it into the length I wanted.  I ended up going with my first stripe being 10 inches, and then alternating between 3 inch and 6 inch stripes five times before knitting another 10 inch stripe to end up being 41 inches.  As far as width goes, I'm going to point you in the direction of this video, which teaches you how to do the long tail cast on which has become my favorite.  It looks pretty and, while it looks tricky initially, it's really easy once you get it down.  Plus all you need to do is measure how wide you want the blanket to be instead of counting on your stitches.  It makes casting on so much easier!

I will say the only downside with knitting by rows as opposed to knitting in inches is that you need to keep track of your rows (obviously).  I've just been using hashmarks in a notebook which is definitely sufficient enough.  There are counters you can buy or you can keep track on your phone, but for me hashmarks work just fine.  

And that is my lesson on gauge!  I'm still a beginner knitter myself but I've definitely been learning a lot.  Knitting has become one of my absolute favorite things to do and it's something that I find time for every day.  It's relaxing and there is something so satisfying about watching something you're making materialize before your eyes!  

Are you a knitter or are you looking to become one?  Let me know what you've been learning along your knitting journey!  Share this with one of your knitting friends and let me know if you're interested in more beginner knitting posts!  I'm more than happy to share things that I learn on my way to being an expert - which is a long way off!

 

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Lessons Learned From My First Knitting Project

I FINALLY FINISHED MY FIRST KNITTING PROJECT!!  Can we talk about how exciting that is?!  I have been working on it since May and, being that the project was a blanket, it took quite a while.  But now it is DONE and I couldn't be happier with how it turned out!  Is it perfect?  Not even close, but it's done and I made it!  And I learned some things along the way.  So let's talk about that! 

And I think that these lessons can really be applied to any hobby, not just knitting.  It's rare that things come naturally (unless you're some sort of prodigy), so anything new is going to take practice and patience.  The patience part is tough sometimes but I promise it pays off!

Your First Project Should Be Something You Want To Do

When I began my knitting class, we were making hats.  Hats are fine.  It's good to learn how to knit in the round, but we had limited yarn to choose from since the teacher put kits together and we chose from one of the kits on our first day.  I got a green camouflage-type colored yarn that I liked initially, but the more I worked with it I actually began to have a lot of hatred for it.  It made me angry, which I'm sure seems incredibly crazy.  It probably was because I associated it with a terrible learning experience (read about that here), but also because it just wasn't something I was looking forward to using.  The yarn itself was ugly to me and the "pattern" I was trying to create looked awful.  I wanted to make something pretty!  All of the knitting magazines and the pins on Pinterest show such pretty things and that's what I wanted to make.  Granted, my teacher was of a different generation and actually would make things out of necessity, not just frivolous pretty things for the sake of pretty.

When the class was over and I could go out and do whatever I wanted to do without anyone attempting to embarrass me in front of a classroom full of people, I picked up pretty yarn that I fell in love with at Michael's.  It was Unforgettable Yarn by Red Heart Boutique in the color Stained Glass.  It was 100% acrylic, which my teacher 100% hated, but I didn't care!  I liked it and that's all that matters.  I found this free blanket pattern hanging on an end cap that I really liked as well, so there was my project!  And I was excited to work on it every day.  It never was a chore for me.  It was fun, which is, at the end of the day what a hobby should be!  Whether it's knitting or crocheting or drawing or painting or playing video games or collecting stamps, your hobby should bring you joy.  Of course it's going to stress you out a little bit (hello Mario Kart, I see you there), but at the end of the day it shouldn't feel like a chore.

You Should Use A Pattern Until You Know What You're Doing

As I mentioned, while making my hat I was just willy-nilly trying to make a pattern and it turned out absolutely awful.  I didn't have much guidance from the teacher other than knit a couple inches at the bottom and then start the pattern you want to start until it just about fits your head and then start to decrease so you can close it at the top.  I never got that far because I wasn't a fan of what was happening.  I think I was doing maybe 11 knits and 7 purls?  I don't remember.  But it looked terrible.

Once you have a better grasp on the different stitches and how things come out then you can maybe try to do your own thing.  Obviously you just need to know how to knit and purl, but then there are a million other things you can do with those two things.  Get a good grasp on the basics and then branch out.  

This can go for anything really.  Take drawing for example, which I am not the greatest at for this very reason.  When you're first learning how to draw (and even if you're a pro), you need those guidelines on the face to know where to put your eyes and nose and mouth.  It helps to see what direction your character is looking so that everything is in alignment.  Only once you're very seasoned at this can you really freehand it, but I even see seasoned illustration vets using these guidelines when I get sketches at Comic Conventions.  The basics are the basics for a reason:  they're there to help you.  Don't take them for granted!

 

Know When You Need To Walk Away For A Little Bit (And You Will)

When you're first starting out, things are going to be frustrating, especially if you don't have any guidance.  If you're just trying to learn from YouTube, it can be very tough when you don't have someone there to kind of hold your hand through the beginning and address your specific question or situation.  And, even when you do know what you're doing, you're still going to drop stitches or slip stitches you don't mean to stitch, or add a stitch you don't want.  You're going to run into a mistake that you made that you don't know how to fix.  You're going to get frustrated when you can't find a video or an article that addresses your problem.  You know what's best to do?  Walk away.  Like for a long time.  Maybe the rest of the day, or at least until you absolutely know that you've calmed down and your frustrations have 100% subsided.

Let's talk about an example that actually happened on the project I'm currently working on (sorry if this is cheating!).  I was working on a blanket when I had an issue where a long strand of yarn was spanning across a couple stitches when it should have been worked into the blanket.  Everything I tried to Google or Pinterest or YouTube was about dropped stitches but I know that wasn't what the issue was.  I tried to back knit and take out a couple of rows to fix the problem but it didn't work.  I had stepped away for a while but came back and kept getting angry.  When I couldn't find a solution, I ripped the entire 8 inches that I had worked apart, only to find a solution to my problem the next morning.  So.  That being said, walk away when you get too angry.  You'll thank me later.

 

Seek Out Inspiration To Keep You Going

As soon as I started knitting I wanted to knit all of the things.  I wanted to know about all of the things that I could knit, so you better believe that I pinned all the things!  And I followed all of the Instagram accounts!  And I watched all the YouTube videos!  I wanted to knit all the time and I didn't want that feeling to go away.  So I sought out all sorts of projects that I could do.  I started watching how to do more advanced stitches so I could aspire to other projects.  I always want to put something new on my needles and have a project or two brewing on the back burner!  Hence my possibly overzealous Christmas gift list. 

It's so wonderful to keep yourself inspired, no matter what your passion is.  Even if I only knitted blankets for the rest of my life, I have solace in the fact that there are tons of different types of stitches that I can do on my blankets!  I could make only a knitted blanket, I can make a cable blanket, I can make a leaf stitch blanket, I can finally figure out those darn gorgeous mermaid blankets!  There are so many different things that you can do with one medium that it just keeps inspiring me.  I challenge you to find that same drive in whatever your hobby is!  There are so many different branches on one hobby tree and, lucky for us, trees are meant for climbing to the top and providing us life.  Hello wonderful analogy, because that's what hobbies and creativity are all about!  It should make you better and it should give you life!

Have Realistic Expectations Of Yourself

As much inspiration as you're going to find, be sure to measure yourself in what you're going to do right off the bat.  You're not going to be able to cable right away and not everything is going to be perfect.  Don't beat yourself up if you're having trouble and don't get yourself down.  You want to have something to motivate you to continue, not something difficult that's going to discourage you from continuing.  Try something simple, like a knitted scarf or even a knitted blanket!  Once you get those mastered, work in some purling.  Then start to branch out!

As I said before, mastering the basics is key.  That should be the whole theme of this post.  Master them basics!  Because once those are under your belt the possibilities are endless!

Speed Knitting Is The Way To Go

I.LOVE.SPEED.KNITTING.  I was learned this as Norwegian Knitting and Purling in my class and haven't looked back since.  I would say that was probably the best thing I learned in that class.  It is fantastic and so much more fluid than the standard way of knitting.  If you don't know what this is, you can check it out on YouTube.  The knitting is easier than the purling by far but take the time to learn it! I promise you you won't go back.  

And those are my words of wisdom!  I really hope that they help any of you out there who are beginners or who are losing a little faith in themselves and their knitting skills.  I don't want you to be discouraged!  I want you to keep going!  If it's something that you enjoy then don't give up.  Just give yourself time to learn.  Keep your head, don't lost your temper like me and rip apart all of your work.  Just keep calm, keep cool, and keep inspired!

And for those of you non-knitters, I hope this inspired you to keep pursuing your hobby and growing your skills!

What are some of your knitting tips and tricks?  Are you a fan of speed knitting?  What projects are on your needles or on your back burner?  Let me know in the comments below!  And if you aren't a knitter, let me know what projects you're working on and what tips you have to keep yourself motivated and inspired.    And don't forget, sharing is caring! 

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My Journey To A Knitting Obsession

As I mentioned, I've gotten into some new things in my absence, and the one that I've fallen the hardest for is knitting!  I'm a beginner knitter that is learning all of the wonderful different stitches and options out there and I'm so excited to start working on even more!  I wanted to share with you what got me into knitting, some bumps I hit in the road, and some plans for what I want to do.

Learning To Knit

My mom volunteers at a thrift shop a couple weekends a month and kept telling me about this woman who would come in, looking for yarn, and wearing and/or carrying all sorts of different knitted things that she made herself.  My mom complimented her one day and the woman said she taught knitting classes.  When my mom expressed interest, she said her class was already full but would keep her updated so we could join.

We ended up joining a class in January.  The class was advertised as a beginner's class, but apparently this teacher had gained a bit of a student following so more advanced knitters would come to her beginner class because that night worked best for them.  This turned out to be a substantial issue throughout the duration of the class as the teacher was far more interested in helping the more advanced students with their projects than helping the beginners learn how to do anything.  She would tell us to watch her YouTube videos to learn things or to resolve our issues.  Upon signing up, we received a kit that had needles, yarn and all necessary equipment needed to make a hat, which we were told we would have done by the end of the class.   I didn't necessarily love the yarn I got but I made it work. 

I believe the class was 12 weeks long and took place from January-April.  I work in an accounting firm so the timing of this class wasn't perfect as I didn't have enough time to work on my project throughout the week since I usually wasn't getting home until around 8:00 most nights.  I would maybe have time enough to sit down for 30 minutes to get a row or two done, but would get criticized for not making enough progress.  There were also many people in the class who didn't get any attention at all.  She had no problem shaming people in front of the whole class for mistakes they made, instead of just simply helping them because they were obviously having trouble.  Needless to say, this put a bitter taste in many mouths.



Toward the end of the class, I decided to abandon my hat and start working on an afghan.  This seemed like a good idea because I had to make all sorts of different squares that would then get sewn together, but each square was made with a different stitch so that I was able to learn many different stitches.  The teacher approved of this project as she recommended the book that the project is outlined in to us.  I went out and bought myself the yarn I needed and some new needles that were the size the book recommends.  The teacher attempted to embarrass me in front of the whole class for not getting 100% wool yarn (which is incredibly difficult to find in most stores), and told me I should take all of the yarn I bought back and go to the boutique store in one of the towns by us to get at least a 50/50 blend, which would have been much more expensive.   Because I needed 20+ skeins of yarn I didn't want to spend a million dollars on yarn and since I was probably going to be making a lot of mistakes since this was my first big project, I didn't want to go all out with nice yarn.  And honestly, I like the feeling of acrylic yarn more than 100% wool, unless it's Alpaca because that is SO SOFT-- but SO expensive.  She also had something to say about the fact that I got straight needles.

Once the class was done, I would try to work on the afghan, but as silly as it sounds, I would get so angry about it because I would just think about her.  She made me so angry when I would go to the classes and this project would bring me back to the class and to her.  So I needed to start something different.

What I'm Working On

One day at lunch, my two work BFF's and I went to Michaels and I, of course, had to go look at yarn.  I fell in love with a yarn from Red Heart Boutique in their Unforgettable line called Stained Glass but I didn't buy it.  It haunted me the rest of the day (quite the appropriate name, eh?) and I ended up going back after work to buy pretty much all of it.  I really wanted to make a blanket and I happened upon a free pattern which is what I've been using to make my blanket.  I'm probably about 3/4 the way done with it and I'm loving it.  It's so far from perfect but I don't care.  I'm just happy to be working on something that I'm proud of and something that I truly enjoy without having someone embarrassing me every time I make a mistake.   

Future Projects

I have a lot of Christmas presents to make... like, way too many.  I always feel like I do this to myself with all of the projects I want to make for Christmas and then I get myself backed into a corner and never get them all done.  BUT I'm going to try to get them all done.  I have another blanket to make but I need to finish the one I'm working on so I can use the needles.  I have a scarf I want to make where I'm going to experiment with cables.  I have a hat I want to do but it's on the back burner... if I don't get to it then it's okay.  I can make it when I get around to it and gift it when I'm done.  I have a couple baby blankets to make as well, which will probably be pushed to the front as those shouldn't take too long anyway and I might be able to get those done in a weekend.

Yarn Addiction Is Real

So now that I'm into knitting, I can't help but look at yarn whenever I go into a craft store and I'm following way too many yarn Etsy shops on Instagram.  One weekend I went into AC Moore for something completely unrelated and ended up wandering back into the yarn section, only to find that they had a Downton Abbey collection of yarn on clearance.  Being that I'm obsessed with that show and not over it being over, I had to buy some of it.  It's absolutely beautiful and handsome and soft and perfect.  I only know what I'm going to do with one of the skeins, but I'm excited to figure out projects for the other ones that I bought!

Are you a knitter?  What project(s) are you working on?  Are you thinking about the holidays already, too?  I feel like that's always the life of a crafter!  Also let me know if you crochet!  I want to try to tackle that, too.

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