stalled

So....I finished Monkey last week

Monkey
Pattern source: Monkey socks from Knitty.com by Cookie A.
Yarn: Trekking ProNatura
Needle: 2.5mm 80cm Addi Turbo
Comments: Ok, so these socks are not as well fitting as my Hedera since I didn't know how to modify the heels. It's a bit of a struggle putting them on as I have to pull really hard, but once they're on, they're pretty.
I LOVE the yarn too, it has 25% bamboo in it that gives it a gorgeous sheen and that "crispy" feel I just love. The pattern is positively addictive too, I'm already contemplating a second pair! One thing though, I never had to block my socks but with this pattern I think some good blocking would make it look so much better. Now I'm thinking of getting one of those fancy sock blockers ;) Or I can just make my own....one day.

After finishing those Monkeys, I was at lost. I have NOTHING to work on!!
So, it was time to cast on for something new. But what?? I tried casting on for some stuffs but none of them work out well. Wrong yarn, wrong needle, wrong gauge. If you've been there I'm sure you know how frustrating it is.
Here's an example

I cast on for Endpaper Mitts by Eunny with the Regia Silks that I used for the Entrelac Socks. Who knew that ripping entrelac is such a pain in the a**. I worked it with 2.5mm needle since that's the size I stock in 80cm length. There's no way I can do colourworks with dpns. If you know the pattern, it calls for 2.75mm for the smallest size. My hands might be my only body parts that are not L size, but they're definitely not XS. When I tried it on I'm convinced it'd cut my blood circulation if I actually wear it. So it's being put on hold while I'm waiting for 3.00mm Addi Lace needle to arrive. I do miss doing colourwork though.
I also tried knitting other stuffs, but with similar devastating (yes, devastating) results. Then I remembered that somebody said something about "when you're unsure, do what you know best" or something along the line. So I did.


Fetching
Pattern source: Fetching from Knitty.com
Yarn: Lang Silk Dream, 1 skein
Needle: 4.00mm 60cm circular x 2
Comments: The yarn is leftover from my Sporty Cardi that I've been wanting to use up. Since I lost my beloved first Fetching somewhere between Venice and Paris, I fgure it's time to make a replacement. The top part of the first one of the pair came out a bit too short for my liking, so I did an extra cable repeat. I was worried about running out of yarn, but I had yards of leftovers. The yarn is still gorgeous and lovely to work with, makes me want to knit a pair in every colour.

The Fetching handwarmer only took me a night (ok, a very long night) to knit. So I needed somethine else to knit while watching all those Korean dramas.


Le' Slouch
Pattern source: Le' Slouch by Wendy at Knitandtonic.com
Yarn: Leisure yarn from Australia, 2 skeins
Needle: 4.00mm 40cm Addi Turbo
Comments: This is the third red Le' Slouch I've knitted, but this time, I'm keeping it. I cast on 96 stitches for my head and it fits quite well. I've even worn it for more than 10 minutes today, which really is a record.
I cast on for it last night and finished it at around 4 pm, after ripping out the whole crown because I was decreasing in the wrong way and ended up with pixie hat. I'm loving it so much that I forgot to snip away the ends before wearing it.

Now that they're done, I'm back at the same point again. Arrghhhh.......
I'm thinking of casting on for more socks, but it would mean winding yarns into balls.....I'd need to buy a swift first. Duh.

WOO HOO!!!!

It's official.....MY HOLIDAY IS HERE!!!!
After days of sleepless night doing my assignments (and having bits of fun), it's finally over! I honestly can't believe I've just finished my first year in university, what the hell have I done so far??
Well...I might have been working, but that doesn't mean I haven't been knitting!

There has been lots of progress going on my Monkey socks. The second sock was cast on straight away and I'm already working on the foot.

Another FO that I've finished about a month ago...


Shetland Triangle
Pattern source: Shetlang Triangle by Evelyn A. Clark from Wrap Style
Yarn: Regia Silk 2 x 50g skeins
Needle: 4.00mm Addi Circular
Comments: I LOVE knitting this shawl. That's for sure. I love watching it grows so quickly the first few repeats. I love how squishy it is before blocking. I love how it grows in the water. I love how the lace pattern comes out all beautiful and delicate after blocking. Well, I guess this love can be applied to most shawls I've knitted and will knit in the future, and I see many many of them. The pattern was very easy to follow and I memorised it after the first repeat. This shawl is truly inspired by this post. Stopping by her blog that night had turned me into a Regia Silk addict. Anyway, the intended recipient went back to the States without telling me, so it'll be sent over to her soon. I really hope she's a worthy recipient and would appreciate it, that's all I ask for when I gift away my handknit item.

I was tagged by Amanda for a meme! It's been a long time since I answered one, but here we go.

7 random things about me:
-I once tried a lavender drink and hated lavender ever since
-I had 6 mascaras when I was 14, and almost never wore them
-I couldn't pronounce "R" when I was a kid
-My dad was very disappointed when he knew I'm a girl, but I ended up being a daddy's girl
-My hair was smelly when I was little, apparently because my mom didn't shave me bald when I was a baby
-I had a serious case of ingrown toenails for years, then had a surgery on my big toe when I was 14
-I once fell asleep during my driving lesson, my hand slid off the steering wheel and shocked my instructor to death

I'm sorry I'm bad at tagging people, but if you want to play along just say I tagged you....

Lots of fun I'm not supposed to be having!

I had a blast last Saturday. Me and my friends went out to a market nearby and it was raining, so we had to go into a department store until the rain is over. Said department store happens to have a haberdashery store (I knew, of course), so I stirred my friends in that direction just so I can check out the yarn.
I didn't see any yarn I fancy (ok, that's a lie, they have Sublime), but my friends suddenly decided they want to learn how to knit!
So we did some shopping, went back. Then we followed our original plan, making homemade kimchi. It turned out quite well, though I lost my ring and there's a BIG chance we'll find it in our kimchi someday. I hope nobody swallows it, I love that ring.
Then comes the best part, knitting!!

Here's me teaching my friend Lucy how to make a slip knot. She had a little difficulty with making a knot but then it's all smooth sailing and she's now knitting her first garter stitch scarf. My other friend Lilian started with a swatch where I showed her how to knit, purl, increases, decreases, etc., and now she's working on a Le' Slouch. We knitted for a good 4 hours until 2 a.m., and they were getting frustrated that they can't seem to stop! I'm happy to report that they still haven't found the "stop" button!

I'm glad to have passed the knitting bug, but their enthusiasm infected me too. I've been knitting madly on my hedera socks since then, and they're finally done!

Hedera
Pattern source: Knitty.com by Cookie A.
Yarn: Rowan 4ply soft "Wink"
Needle: 2.5mm Addi Turbo Circular 80cm
Modifications: Cast on 66 stitches instead of 60, to accommodate my fat calves. Used extra stitches for the heels since I have thick heels and decrease for the leg parts.
Comments: Definitely my favourite knitted socks to date! I'm so glad that I modified to better fit my leg shapes. It made such a big improvement on the fit. The pattern is very well written, and so easy to memorise. The yarn is also nice and soft, in I love the flirty colour soooo much! I even cast on for the second sock immediately after I finished the first one. If that's not love, I don't know what is.

Here's an obligatory pretty shoes picture


I'm already planning on casting on for more socks. First, Knitty's Monkey! I've seen so many pretty monkeys around and I just couldn't resist. In fact, I've already cast on a few stitches while waiting for the pictures to upload. I'm using Trekking Pro Natura that I've been wanting to try for ages.

With all this socks love it's only natural that I signed up for Sockapalooza 4. I've already heard from my sockpal and she's said the magic words, "lacy", "stretchy, and "KOIGU"!! yay! I'm really excited to knit for my pal too. She likes blue so I've been searching around looking for the right yarn, and drooling a lot in the progress. I decided on this

Fleece Artist Merino in "Aqua". Variagated, but very subtly and won't disrupt lace patterns. It's very very soft too. I hope she'll like it. But meanwhile I'll be "practising" before I knit her socks. After all, it's only May, right?

And yeah, all these fun happened while I'm supposed to be working on my boring assignment. Who can blame me?

Almost back to normal

Life has been a bit hectic lately, I was fully booked for the past 2 weeks! My last class was on Wednesday, where I had a presentation and didn't win and was a bit disappointed but glad that it was over anyway. I thought I could relax then realise I have 2 more deadlines this week. Yikes.
But on other news, I found a house! Yay! I've been living in student hall so far, which has been great in the social side, but not so great when you need a bit of silence. Anyway, me and my friends had been house hunting and finally found the perfect house . I'll be moving there at the beginning of next month and I can't wait to start decorating! Too bad I have to go home after a week. Well, I do miss home a lot and I hate British summer anyway, so it's all good. I still think that every house should have air conditioners, can't figure out how people here handle the heat.

On the knitting front, Shetland Triangle is done and blocked, but I haven't had the time to take FO picture yet. So instead I give you an outdated blocking picture.


And another really outdated FO picture


Silk Sleeves
Pattern source: One Skein by Leigh Radford
Yarn: Kidsilk Haze "Meadow"
Needle: 5.5mm
Comments: Excuse the smiley face, but I felt that I need to protect the innocence of my recipient, Lucy. She loves it and everybody was all "ooh and aah" and was trying to get me to make them something. The amount of gift knitting I've been doing lately really concerns me, people seems to start assuming I'll be making them something for their birthday. According to my friend that's because they think "I have nothing better to do than knitting". Yeah, right.

I've decided to stop knitting the entrelac socks

See those unsightly holes? I love Regia Silk but I'm worried it's not the right yarn for this pattern. It needs something more stretchy to accommodate my big feet. I'm thinking the yarns would have a better life as Endpaper Mitts. For socks, I cast on for Hedera with some pink Rowan 4ply soft instead.

Anyway, before I go get ready for work, I'm sure most of you have already heard about Ravelry by now. If anything can make me more organised, then this it it. Go sign up, it rocks!!