My ugly Fair Isle

I don't really like checking my gauge, but this time swatches were very important, to count the stitches, also for practice and to loosen the hand.
The first swatch was knitted using Endpaper Mitts Chart, not too bad, but I was obsessed with NapkinPoem's tapestry chart. Turns out both charts are made for fingering or sport yarn, my purple and cream are worsted so there are less stitches to knit, less fancy the design.

I tried drawing my own (didn't take pics, they are messy) but it's hard to get smooth curves and designs in so few stitches then I thought for a moment I had hope with a new chart I found, Ithilien Brocade, such a pretty name and it does look pretty.
 I knitted a swatch to practice (and also to check if the leafs were too big) but I get really confused with the "left cross (...)" and "right cross (...)" I can't "see" or notice when to make each. Sometimes I knitted it right, sometimes the cream went over the purple :/
 But oh well, I wont give up on fair isle, I have some sport yarn in my stash so I'll go back to try this again soon until I get it right.

Copper-Chloride Flame Scarf

I completed this a few days before I went home for holidays, 2 weeks ago now.

This Candle Flame Scarf pattern has become one of my favorites (if not my favorite)... the pattern is easy to follow and the scarf grows fast! After a few rows, I didn't need to follow the pattern anymore (well, just a few times to make sure I was doing it right)

{Yup, I use a clip to mark my rows :p}

At first I had some trouble figuring it out, specially the first row but once I did, the rest was cake. Other problem I had was the grafting but I found a great video which helped me a lot (I can't find the video I've used for this scarf but found this one: Kitchener Stich which I've watched to make my birds), actually grafting is so easy that I wanted to do more but the scarf was not too wide :p (while looking for that video I found a very interesting video about grafting a seam with knits and purls, I'll keep this link here since youtube search is not working very well)

I love the texture and great thing is that it looks good on both sides.

And of course I love the yarn, it's very soft and the colors... teal/green/grey/dark grey/black, are perfect.
Copper-chloride?... well after I checked the other projects for this pattern, some people used red/orange colors, hence the name, candle flame, since I had green I wanted to know if there was green flame... and indeed there is, found this great post Colors of Elements in a Flame and there it is... my beautiful Copper(II) Chloride flame:

 "A bright green color is imparted to the flame by copper(II) chloride. (...) Usually copper salts other than the chloride are emerald green and copper chlorides are azure blue, but in this case the chloride appears emerald green."

Nerdy, I know... but I can't help it, I'm curious!

Mother's day, away from home, again

Finished the mother's day project on time, it's in my mom's right now, just got off the phone with her, she really likes the birds, her words were: cute, chubby, real and ... yummy (because of the gummies). When I go home this Christmas, I'm definetely taking a pic of this in her living room, I chose this colors because they match perfectly with her decoration.
She is a ric rac fan too, I don't know why I like this ric racs so much, maybe because of vintage feeling, too bad they don't make them anymore :/.
Anyways, the project was a success! 
I don't know if this is part 2 or what but I gotta say I wanted to make something different for the nest, tried making circles and strips to give the "nest cloth" a nice convex shape but obviously, it didn't work so I quickly chose the easiest way, 2 fabric circles with the ric rac inside, turn right sides out, then a nice lace ribbon and another ric rac ribbon and done. Finished with hot glue, moss and some dry flowers.
Thanks Katie from Duofiberworks for sharing the little birds pattern! While making them (it was my first time with dp needles so if I could, I think anybody can!) anyways, while making them I got this incredible creativity rush that I hadn't had in a long time, so thanks :>.

Now... I have to go back to study, I have like 3 exams this week which is why I'm not with my family, it's not that bad though, I enjoy my alone time... even if I have to study all this: (which I'm falling behind with, woops)

Multitasking day(s)

uhm where to start....
Over a week ago I saw focaccia recipes everywhere (I love italian food), it didn't seem too complicated so I wanted to give it a try, since my brother's birthday was coming, it was the perfect opportunity. So I made it happen, wrote down 2 recipes that looked the best and made my own with bits of them and it worked out really well, I wanted to make buns with the dough leftovers but my brother was like... "why don't we make a pizza out of it?"

This is what is left for tomorrow (and the day after tomorrow and who knows) (lots of food -.- but you don't turn 29 everyday):
 

Today I've also been watching videos at lockerz, they give you more points for watching videos today and since the redemption is coming soon and I have enough points to TRY to trade for 25 bucks on my paypal account (I'm looking forward to buy a rotary cutter on etsy), I made the most of it and watched threadbanger's videos, interesting things there.
There were also idiotic videos like some girls talking emptyheadedgirly stuff, I can't believe such people can be so airheaded, it's so ridiculous that it looks fake... come on, who cares if your bf wears designer underwear that cost more than a car! or if your miniature dog's farts smell like flowers! or if a "newsupahottop" iphone gadget gives you massages! come on!... so with just reading the video tittles ("Pink is in, Julia is out" or "Sex with ex?" or "Strippers"... please, give me a break here >.>) I knew it wasn't good, so I muted them and listened to some good old Beck songs, nice memories there... I used to lol at this video when it was first released, I was like 11 or 12 and the image of the fridge humping the cooker was to die for, also the songs sounds so... happy, like No rain by Blind Melon with the little bee that kinda looks like the girl from Little Miss Sunshine.

DANCE LITTLE BEE!! ^^



 These days, and today, I've been crocheting a little, I still have this endless "square net sweater"

but I know I'm going to complete it... this time.

Seriously... I do. Oh and there is also a peek at the crochet cushion cover I made for the white cushions I also made :p, I just need to make the other one.... so lazy

Also while I was waiting for the dough to rise I tried to knit with these double point needles I bought today... I almost bought them on etsy because no craft store had them or the size I needed, funny thing is that I didn't even know their name in Spanish (I think I heard it on a craft show here but I first knew about them in English) so I was like translating it and I found out the name "agujas para medias" or... sock needles... it seems nobody knit them anymore but I saw oooh so pretty sock patterns on ravelry!

The result of me getting started in ... this technique, more here.
Well, it is a nice "thumb cosy"
I'm excited with this.... it feels like those moments when your mind is all happy and racing because you accomplished something that seemed too hard,
eg:
- "I'm riding a bicycle on my own!"
- "I'm knitting!"
- "I'm driving!"
- "I finished school!"
- "I won!" (a dressing contest in second life, funny thing it was "best in skirts" and my avatar was wearing a simple one and the rest of the girls were all dressing like ho's... and people voted for me and I won :p)  
- "Opeth is coming!!!" (probably one of the happiest moments in my life, too bad at that time I didn't have someone to share the excitement with)
- "I understand!" (when I read or listen to stuff in other languages that I don't know much about)
- Etc...
And now...
- "I'm knitting with double needles!" 
 

Satin bias tape... I wont buy you again

Hello!, I'm still struggling to give the final touch to my hoodie (pictured a bit in the last post), this satin bias tape is   driving me crazy!! it looks so nice... but it gives so much trouble in the V neck but... it looks nice.

Anyway, days ago I finished a scarf, last year my brother asked me to knit him a scarf so we bought this yarn with red-grey-purple colors on it, I loved it, so this year I bought some for me and I wanted to make something more... uhm challenging?... and I realized something... which is funny, I always read about "cable knitting" or "cable patterns" and always thought cable needle meant circular needle because of the cable/wire part lol. Dumb me, cable patterns are so simple. I chose this pattern which was very easy and after a few times I memorized it so it was knit really fast.

And... I sewed this "tied up Voodoo doll wrist-pincushion", I've been using Mario's mushroom as a pincushion but, as I thought, it was kinda annoying to take the pins, so with the bits of fabric I bought for barely nothing in my last trip to Buenos Aires, I did this... I liked the idea of a voodoo doll pincushion, but I didn't like carrying the mushroom everywhere so I thought... why not a wrist pincushion... and even better with the twist of him tied up :p