Why I love (and hate) Knitting

Image courtesy of Apolonia / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Knitting is one of my most favorite hobbies. In fact, I knit all the time. I just love to make things for myself, while watching shows. Since I don't have a job right now, it's nice to be able to make your own sweater for 16 dollars (versus paying 30 bucks or more for a new one). However, I also hate it. Why, you ask?

1. It's time consuming. I knit slowly, and that means it takes me longer to knit something that takes a person one day. And I knit most of the day, since I'm unemployed.
2. Due to my own failure.  I make way too many mistakes when knitting, and end up having to do rows over repeatedly. For example, I completed one of the sleeves for a sweater I'm working on, only to find out that near the beginning I skipped a row on the pattern. Since it's really bothering me, I'll probably go back and do it over. But that was days spent, now in the gutter.
3. I can't do it for long. I have to take breaks or I get bored or my hands start hurting. However this is only a minor problem, as I can go do something I'm supposed to be doing, like the online drawing class homework.
4. The right yarn for a project costs too much. Yes, acrylic yarn is the most affordable, and thus 95% of my stash is acrylic. The roughness of the yarn doesn't bother me that much, mostly because I don't use lotion so my hands are tougher than most. Cotton is much more expensive for less, but I have a bit to try and make a cotton jacket and socks. The other varieties are out of my price range, sadly. I also feel bad, because there's not much I can do with acrylic, since I have no use for scarves or hats (it never snows where I live, and the coldest it gets at night is 40 degrees F).

The most irritating of these reasons is #2. I want to learn how to knit faster without making so many mistakes (and maybe get in the habit of checking my work repeatedly to catch errors faster). If so, I would be less frustrated with knitting and like it more.

As a side note, I want to open an etsy shop, but I have no idea what would be good to sell. I'm thinking about selling small and affordable items, like hats, plushies, phone keychains (knitted), or bracelets. However, I am wondering if people would buy them, because I know it is hard to advertise and be noticed. Once I get more ideas, I will make another post. 

This Summer's Garden - Part 1

This year, my dad cleared out an area in the back garden, tilling away all the grass that had grown up there. This was nice, as I had a lot to plant! (Too bad I had to split the space with my younger brother, who was only interested in planting a few melons). So, let's begin the tour!

The Porch

My front garden has a lot of things jam packed, due to lack of room (and bad gardening sense from me). I recently dug up all the mint I planted in the ground last year - since I found out they were invasive - and put them in pots. Hopefully I got it all. On a side note, they probably aren't the exact pure varieties since they had opportunity to cross-propogate for a year. Anyways, there's three varieties: Citrus, Chocolate, and Common.

Three varieties of mint in pots: Citrus, Chocolate, and Common.

My dad had some sweet potatoes that were already rooting (with leaves!) on the living room table, so I decided to try growing them. I separated a few shoots and placed them in pots. Hopefully they grow well!

Four sweet potato plants in two black pots.

I also tried to grow ginger from a root in the store, but there's no picture because it failed to sprout. Hopefully it sprouts soon. Finally, my mom bought me a pineapple plant from Trader Joe's, and it hasn't been growing at all. It came with the fruit on it. The cactus plants behind it are my other little brother's.

A store-bought pineapple plant.

The Front Garden

I have all sorts of things here. However, it's not good for everything to be by the house, which is why I'll try to fit more things in the backyard garden. First things first, we will visit the side closest to the porch. There's some things purchased from the local nursery: Two Roma tomato plants (purchased with green tomatoes on it for only $2 each!), two bell pepper plants (one up front and the other in the far left corner) and a lavender plant. I'm interested in making lavender tea with this, so hopefully it's possible. The other tomato plant to the left is from Home Depot. It's nearing the end of its production, sadly. Finally, there's a small bit of oregano I purchased from the 99 cents store.

Right side of the front garden.

Next we have a random tree that sprouted from the days when I was guerrilla gardening a few years back. I think it's apple, but it may not actually produce anything since it's from a store fruit. There's also a few carrots that have been in the ground for over a year. They were stunted since I didn't pull any up, so I need to pull the rest up and get the ground free for other things. To the back (and behind my shadow), there are a few sunflowers my mom purchased for me from a yard sale. Below that, and hardly visible, there are the sage and chives plants from the 99 cents store. Yes, I had been very happy to see quality herb plants there! To the left, there's an organic tomato variety my brother ordered for me from an online seed distributor. I forgot the variety name.

Middle area of the front garden.

Finally, this is the end of the garden. I allowed the lettuce to flower, so I may get seeds out of it! At the very end, I planted some dead mini-roses and one came back, producing a nice pink rose. I also planted a box of random flowers, and they seem to be sprouting to fill up the empty area nicely. The problem is that the grass and weeds are still non-removable, since they grow deep into the old water sprinkler system. Two years ago, I accidentally cut the electric cord attached to it while trying to deweed, so it leaks water and continually fuels the weeds' growth. Any ideas?

Left side of the front garden.

My next post will be on the back garden, so stay tuned!

Finally, A New Post

Well...it's about time I made another post. Hopefully I can get some readers this year :)
Anyway, I haven't been doing that many projects, but I'll talk about them:

I. Owl Bookmark (Ravelry Project Link)

 Owls are one of my favorite birds, so I just had to make this. I made it too long, though, because I thought I'd want to use it for a large book as well. I made this in December 2012. Isn't it cute? :)

 

II. Berry Buttoned Mittens (Ravelry Project Link)

Only I would stop working on mittens from last year and stick them behind the computer. After finding these and noticing that I was almost done, I quickly finished them in a few days in May. I think they look decent. :)

Knitted Berry Buttoned Mittens.

II. Summer Slippers (Ravelry Project Link)

I thought I'd try to make myself some Summer Slippers in May, since I've been having trouble with my feet. Worst idea ever, purely because of the choice of yarn. There's a reason why it was discontinued: the yarn's core is hard. Combined with my sensitive feet, it was like walking on sharp rocks. I tried to add a polyester stuffed insole with cloth, but it wasn't enough. If I feel like it later, I'll undo it, put a jean bottom to the insole and re-stuff it with plenty of polyester. Oh well, at least they look nice.

III. Sunday Swing Socks (Ravelry Project Link)

Okay, I bought GALA yarn from Big Lots a long time ago, intending to make socks. This is because I originally wanted to make socks with the suede yarn used to make the above slippers, only to discover that you shouldn't make socks with acrylic yarn. Huge letdown. So I thought a mystery polyester %, nylon %, acrylic % yarn would be better. Neglecting to do a fabric test (Hey it's soft: should be fine), I embarked on the journey on making my second pair of socks ever. At least it wasn't wool (Long story short: My wool socks that I had painstakingly knit shrunk, and I only got to wear them once.)
It took me about a month to make them, and the whole time I felt that I was the slowest knitter in the world. But they look really nice, and I'm looking forward to them! I want to make more, since I've been having trouble with the elastic in my store-bought socks cutting off my circulation. Anywho, here's the socks!

And finally...

IV. What I'm doing now

I'm working on a cardigan called Girl Friday, with Red Heart grey heather yarn. Hopefully I have enough. My mom wants me to make her some crocheted top later, so hopefully I finish this soon.

Anything you've been working on? Comment here!