Wednesday, June 12, 2013

I'm crocheting!


I just couldn't wait, so about right after I finished writing last, I cast on for my very first Pikmin. I'm using the 100 % acrylic yarn I showed you last time, and it's actually pretty soft. The hard part for me is the actual crocheting, I'm really not good at it! But I have finished the main body and legs on the Pikmin, so now I just have to make two arms, ears and a head flower.


It's pretty fun, although I get a cramp in my hand after a while. I'm not used to the movements you make while crocheting, so I can only do it for a short time before I have to take a break. I'm planning on making a blue one and a red one too, while I'm at it. A whole Pikmin family!

This weekend I mainly worked on the Parcel sweater though, so now I've finished the body and started the first sleeve.


It fits me almost perfectly, although I've only tried it on while not wearing a bra. I think it will be fine anyway! In the photo the sleeve cap looks like it's a little bit scrunched up, but that is because the cable pattern started on the first row and pulls the cap together. It will block out. I like the sweater a lot, and it will definitely be very warm to wear this winter!

I've also been knitting a bit on the vanilla socks that I'm making from the Mind the Gap yarn, and I've finished the first of the socks:


The sock is amazingly pretty, and I love all the colours, but I'm just not overwhelmed by the yarn. It is a bit on the thin side for a fingering, and a bit too stiff for my taste. I'll probably wear them a lot anyway, as they are so cool, but I won't be buying this yarn again.

Yesterday when I came home from work I had gotten the final shipment in the Hunger Games yarn club from Friday Studios. The yarn this time is a little bit more luxurious, it's her Saturday base which is 80 % Merino/10 % cashmere/10 % nylon, and the colourway is called The 75th Arena:


It represents all the tropical colours of the last Hunger Games arena (in the final book), and I really, really like it! This has been a very good club, and if Frida has any more themes that I'd enjoy (the next one will be Breakfast at Tiffany's, which is a movie I've never seen, so I chose not to join), I'll definitely consider joining again.

And speaking of clubs: Mad Color Fiber Arts will be starting sign-ups for her next round of yarn clubs newt week. The coming three months will be themed Browncoats (which of course is about the TV show Firefly), and I'm very tempted to join. The problem is that I still haven't gotten the first two shipments of this round of club yarn. When the first month's yarn didn't show up I contacted Heather on Ravelry, and it turned out that she had completely missed my order. This is fine, I know that we're all human and it's easy to miss stuff sometimes. Heather was really nice about it too, and apologized profusely  As she didn't have any more of the yarn dyed up, she had to make a new skein for me. She then sent it together with the second month's yarn, but I think the package is probably stuck in customs. If the yarns had been sent separately, the packages' values would have been marked as below $30, which is the amount that I don't have to pay customs for. But as the yarns were combined, I'm guessing that Heather put the actual value of both skeins on the envelope, and then it gets held up in customs. Which sucks. I know that this isn't Heather's fault, but it still irritates me somewhat, so I'm thinking I won't join in for the next three months. We'll see.

Finally, today I got another book package in the mail. I've been buying books like crazy lately, but most of them have been very good. First, I got the package with the new Joe Hill book, Nos4A2, which was AMAZING, by the way! I usually say that I'd leave Thomas for Stephen King, if he only promised to keep writing for me, but I think the same might be true about his son too (and possibly about Neil Gaiman too...). He is such a good writer, and his comic book, Locke & Key, is the best comic I've ever read. The last two issues will be out this summer, and I can't wait!

Anyway, while I was waiting for that package to arrive, I re-read some Dianna Wynne Jones books, the main one being Howl's Moving Castle. If you haven't read that one you really should. It's such an amazing book, and the anime movie does not do it justice at all. I happened to look the author up on Fantastic Fiction, and discovered that there was a sequel that I hadn't read, so I immediately ordered more books. I'm planning on slowly getting all of the books by Dianna, as I really, really love her. It's a shame she isn't around any more.

Then, on my birthday, Thomas had gotten me three more books. And today I got yet another, albeit small, package of books! This one contains the new Stephen King book, Joyland, so now you know what I'll be doing for the rest of the week! I also got a knitting book that I've had my eye on for a while, Cast on, Bind off by Cap Sease. It's a really good reference book about cast-ons and bind-offs (obviously), which is actually something that I'm really lousy at. Or maybe lazy. I just keep using the same starts and finishes to most of the stuff I make, and I thought this book might inspire me to try some new things. 

Now, I'm going to go put on my PJ's and start m new book. See you in a couple of days, possibly with some more knitting contents. And there might possibly be a package on it's way from Germany with some more Wollmeise yarn. You never know!

/ Jenny

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