lördag 8 februari 2014

January 12in12 for 2014 - Chuck!

My goal for this year is to make twelve adult-sized cardigans or pullovers, roughly one per month. I decided to start with Chuck by Andi Satterlund, a cropped pullover with cables on the front and stockinette on the back. When I first saw the pattern on Ravelry I was so over-the-moon in love with it, the pictures sort of have a preppy fifties-look to them and it was just lovely!
The pattern called for the Cascade 220-yarn and I actually found a retailer in Sweden who carries Cascade, Garnkorgen. It is not very common for Swedish retailers to carry American brands since we have a surprisingly large yarn industry in Scandinavia - Drops Design for example. At first I was set on using a cherry red colour for my Chuck, but when I saw the colour Ireland (in the heathers range) I changed my mind. I love green, and the moss colour is just lovely. In hindsight I think I should have gone with the cherry red colour, but that is a reason to make another one, isn't it? I think this colour would have been cuter on the cardigan Marion.

Still working on the left sleeve here, and I have yet to make the neckline
Pattern wise, I really liked it. It was easy to follow (I consider myself to be an advanced newbie) and you didn't have to think about stuff for too long - idiot proof ;). I have just made one sweater before and it was a raglan style (hate that sweater, the yarn is awful) so the construction of making the shoulder part first on each side and then cast on and pick up stitches was interesting. I managed to screw up the sizing, I went M on the front and S on the back - which, incidentally, is what my body actually craves - and that messed up the decreasing quite a lot, now I have wing flaps under the arms... You can't see it if you don't look though, and most people don't stare into other people's armpits so I think I'll be alright.

This is the length of the finished sleeves. Love <3
I managed to get different stitch counts on the arms too and that was weird. One of the sleeves has thus one lesser decrease than the other. Not a big deal either, you can't tell the difference if you don't inspect it - another thing people generally don't do. Unless you're a knitting nerd. And then it doesn't matter, I think. Knitting nerds appreciate the time and effort that goes in to a piece.
I got the neck lining odd too, I think I have around ten fewer stitches that I was supposed to have so the ribbing is a bit stretched. I don't mind though, I think it looks fine anyway :)

One thing that I've realized during this project is how different my gauge is on circular and straights. I have mostly done things in the round since I prefer knit st over purls, like most knitters I guess. Thankfully I have interchangeable rounds so I can just go down a size on the left needle and then it'll look much better. Honestly, interchangeable needles are the best! (Pic is on my Instagram, @hecathe)

I had planned on doing a red chuck for February, but my wallet is grumpy so I'm stuck with my small stash for now. I've made a pair of thick socks as well as handwarmers for a friend of mine who is permanently cold. We work as archive assistants and from next week we will have to work inside the archive where there's not even 16 degrees Celcius (damn cold in Farenheit) so to keep her from dying of hypothermia or something I clean out my stash. Yesterday evening I cast on a pair of toe-up socks for my self too. Pics will be posted on my Instagram, @hecathe.

Knit long and prosper!

onsdag 1 januari 2014

Anti-procrastination Wednesday!

Happy new year everybody! The later half of 2013 was a bad six months for me, but now I think I have everything needed to begin treading the path to good times again.

As far as new year's resolutions, I do not really believe in them... However, you can say that I have four goals for this year - the first is to reboot my Flylady routines, more on that below, the second is to make 12 adult sized sweaters/cardigans in 12 months, and the third is to continue to evaluate and improve on my organizational (let us call them) deficiencies. I will hold myself accountable here and on twitter (follow me @askatla). (The last one is of a more private nature, but I can say that a lot of it consists of journalling and I may mention it sometimes.)

As you may see from the title of this post, it is anti-procrastination Wednesday, and Wednesdays are the days when I will review my Flylady-progress and it may evolve to be some sort of goal setting review later on. If you are not familiar with Flylady you can check it out here, and the heart of it is to hit a lick at a snake every day by establishing good routines to streamline your day and encourage yourself. It is mostly geared towards stay-at-home-moms, I am neither, but you can use it to keep track of any ADDesque problems - like forgetting to hoover for a month because you think I can do that later. Everyday...

The first thing you are encouraged to do as a new Flybaby/rookie is to follow the 31 baby steps. They are the foundation of the routine building, and they are awesome for anyone who has been following the Flylady "program" a long time but fallen of the wagon (like me...). Day number one in the 31 baby steps is to Shine the Sink. Just washing the dishes (unless there are mountains of it), clean and polish it. Not too hard. Hard for me. I would rather just knit all day - but it has to be done and I can only count on myself to do it. Therefore, my will be done. To keep myself a little more motivated I cannot knit until the tasks has been done, and I get a star in my filo afterwards!

I will explain my 12 projects in 12 months on Friday and the time management/filofax/my week will be on Sunday. Cheerio! 

söndag 22 december 2013

My week

Busy busy. I'm currently writing an essay so I don't have any classes. *tired* byeeee *graceface*

måndag 16 december 2013

Considering Men's Rights vs. Feminism.

After a minor debate with a person who "hates feminists because they don't work for equality" I found this:

A List of “Men’s Rights” Issues That Feminism Is Already Working On

Feminists do not want you to lose custody of your children. The assumption that women are naturally better caregivers is part of patriarchy.
Feminists do not like commercials in which bumbling dads mess up the laundry and competent wives have to bustle in and fix it. The assumption that women are naturally better housekeepers is part of patriarchy.
Feminists do not want you to have to make alimony payments. Alimony is set up to combat the fact that women have been historically expected to prioritize domestic duties over professional goals, thus minimizing their earning potential if their “traditional” marriages end. The assumption that wives should make babies instead of money is part of patriarchy.
Feminists do not want anyone to get raped in prison. Permissiveness and jokes about prison rape are part of rape culture, which is part of patriarchy.
Feminists do not want anyone to be falsely accused of rape. False rape accusations discredit rape victims, which reinforces rape culture, which is part of patriarchy.
Feminists do not want you to be lonely and we do not hate “nice guys.” The idea that certain people are inherently more valuable than other people because of superficial physical attributes is part of patriarchy.
Feminists do not want you to have to pay for dinner. We want the opportunity to achieve financial success on par with men in any field we choose (and are qualified for), and the fact that we currently don’t is part of patriarchy. The idea that men should coddle and provide for women, and/or purchase their affections in romantic contexts, is condescending and damaging and part of patriarchy.
Feminists do not want you to be maimed or killed in industrial accidents, or toil in coal mines while we do cushy secretarial work and various yarn-themed activities. The fact that women have long been shut out of dangerous industrial jobs (by men, by the way) is part of patriarchy.
Feminists do not want you to commit suicide. Any pressures and expectations that lower the quality of life of any gender are part of patriarchy. The fact that depression is characterized as an effeminate weakness, making men less likely to seek treatment, is part of patriarchy.
Feminists do not want you to be viewed with suspicion when you take your child to the park (men frequently insist that this is a serious issue, so I will take them at their word). The assumption that men are insatiable sexual animals, combined with the idea that it’s unnatural for men to care for children, is part of patriarchy.
Feminists do not want you to be drafted and then die in a war while we stay home and iron stuff. The idea that women are too weak to fight or too delicate to function in a military setting is part of patriarchy.
Feminists do not want women to escape prosecution on legitimate domestic violence charges, nor do we want men to be ridiculed for being raped or abused. The idea that women are naturally gentle and compliant and that victimhood is inherently feminine is part of patriarchy.
Feminists hate patriarchy. We do not hate you.
If you really care about those issues as passionately as you say you do, you should be thanking feminists, because feminism is a social movement actively dedicated to dismantling every single one of them. The fact that you blame feminists—your allies—for problems against which they have been struggling for decades suggests that supporting men isn’t nearly as important to you as resenting women. We care about your problems a lot. Could you try caring about ours?
Excerpt from If I Admit That Hating Men is a Thing, Will You Stop Turning it Into a Self-fulfilling Prophecy?, by Lindy West (vialullabysounds)

Point is, patriarchy hurts everyone. Patriarchy dictates how we, as humans, are supposed to be. And contrary to what people in general seems to believe, feminism and feminists do not want you to be anything other than yourself. If you want to be a lorry driver and identify as a man, go ahead. If you want to be a nurse and identify as a woman, go ahead. It's when someone say that because I identify as a woman then I cannot drive a lorry (because I'm too weak, because women cannot drive, because reasons), or someone who identifies as a man cannot become a kindergarten teacher (because he's probably a paedophile, because he doesn't have a mother's instincts, because reasons) - then there is a problem, according to me, according to feminists, according to feminism. There is also a problem when there is a medial uproar over a woman, in an audience on a popular TV-show, who haven't shaved her armpits. I. Wha. What? I just.. Wha? Why does ANYONE care about another person's armpits? *le sigh*. These things extend beyond everything that is obvious, patriarchal structures are woven into society, to the relations between people regardless of gender identity, to the relations between adults and children. And patriarchy hurts. It hurts everyone.

söndag 15 december 2013

Oh god I feel so busy!

I'm not though, I think I'm just combining the art of procrastinating with my current inability to start writing an essay... (edit; I've started! Yay me!)
From September up until now, I use Dodopad inserts. I'm not terribly happy with them though, it feels cramped! If I would have had an a5 I'd definitely use the dodoinserts, but in a personal it just feels useless... I'm not a very doodly (that is a word now) person and I like to have dedicated areas for my things because I'm easily overwhelmed - my current state of mind - and it's easier for me to just go with the inserts. I don't like how it feels like I'm wasting a loot of space, which I am.


The reason why I chose the dodoinserts at all is because I want colour and decoration in my filo. Right now I'm contemplating getting LimeTreeFruits inserts for next fall, but I may end up buying them sooner. I like the LTF-inserts because they are fun, don't waste much space on the pages, really pretty and I support an independent artist. Nothing can go wrong with that combination! I don't really have a clue on what the pages will look like, but I can say that the small thumbnail I've seen for the week per view lay out is purrty. I liked the month pages for this year that she made, and now she's improved them by putting mon-fri on the same page - loved it!

For the upcoming weeks I will regress to the cotton cream week on 2 pages from Filofax. I have more appointments than I thought I had since I have two jobs without a fixed schedule, as well as studying full time. It will be easier for me to have a W2P and use a to do-list on the side. I will give you an update next week on how I have set it up (have not decided yet which format, video or pictures).

Have a great week!

måndag 25 november 2013

My week and what I made.

I crocheted a shawl for my cousin's cristmas present.
Busy week, I have two exams this week and one exam next week. I feel swamped..

söndag 10 november 2013

My week!

Less busy than usual, still quite busy. I need to write stuff up more often!!