Friday Update

Not many "blog-worthy" things have happened in the past week or so, so I figured I'd post a mini update.
I just finished my first week of my second semester of college. Despite the horrible drivers in the horrible parking lots caused by horrible, pointless construction, it's going nicely! My pre-calculus class is going well considering we're only graphing right now. My history class seems like it's going to be interesting and I'm not sure what to think of my English class, but I missed the first real classes of those subjects yesterday because of weather. The best part is that I'm already over 2 weeks ahead in my online astronomy class. I'm not particularly enjoying it, but I'm way ahead, so that feels good.
Since I didn't go to class yesterday, I pretty much knitted all day long. I actually made 3 things in one day out of two skeins of yarn. I finger knitted two headbands, one of which is going to be bought by one of my friends, and I arm knitted another scarf. I'm starting to enjoy finger knitting a little bit more than arm knitting, but it kind of makes my fingers hurt so I'm not going to try to finger knit a scarf or anything, that would just be ridiculous.
This weekend I'll be doing some modeling for my favorite entrepreneur, Kaylie, so she can list some more jewelry on her Etsy shop this month. Keep an eye on Lost Cause Revival for those!
Next weekend I'll be going to Atlanta for my sister's dance competition. I really like dance competitions and I can't wait to see what Tessa's group earns at awards. I'm not allowed to talk about the dance online because there are dance thefts out there, but I'll let you guys know how the competition goes awards-wise.

Some projects I'm hoping to start soon:
-Crochet a Hufflepuff house scarf
-Paint a few canvases for the kitchen
-More arm knitting!

There's my little update, I hope to post more as more share-worthy things happen around here, but with classes starting back, I'll probably just be posting mini updates for the most part just to keep this blog active. Thanks for keeping up with my ramblings!

Arm-Knitted Blanket

It was a grueling process, but I arm knitted a blanket! The tutorial I watched said it should take about 45 minutes to an hour. However, I was able to watch three movies while making this thing. It took me a whole lot longer than an hour and my arms were pretty tired by the end of it. Anyway, here are the pictures I took along the way.

I used three huge (hacky sack for comparison) skeins of soft blanket yarn. In the video I watched, the girl had regular sized skeins, so I'm not sure how she was able to finish her blanket since I didn't have much of these left when I binded off, especially since I casted on less than she did.

The pattern called for 32 stitches. This is what 20 looked like on my very long arms. I honestly have no idea how the small girl in the video was able to get 32 stitches on her arms. I managed to get to 30 but decided that two more would be pushing it, so I started knitting with 30 stitches.

There are some progress pictures. I had to put it on a wrapping paper roll to go to dinner. When it was on the wrapping paper roll, I was at 10 rows out of the 23 that the pattern called for. It already looked pretty long. After dinner I kept going until I was finished and it started to get even longer and more difficult to take pictures of from where I was.

At least it was keeping me warm! I was very happy when I finished it and could not believe how big it was! I expected it to be more of a throw to put on my lap or around my shoulders, but the final dimensions were roughly 45 inches wide and 63 inches long. 

Beagle for reference.

So that was my experience arm knitting a blanket! I will probably never do it again, but at least I can say I've done it. I'm just going to stick to scarves and headbands and maybe a shawl. 

I Can Arm Knit!

Hello again lovely readers! I just made a page on this blog called "My Creations" where I'll be putting all of my crafty, artsy, DIY posts so they can be easily accessed. It's getting super cold here in Alabama, but luckily for me, I've gotten into arm knitting!
When I was first introduced to Pinterest, I learned that arm knitting was a thing, but I never tried it because it seemed confusing and like it would take up a lot of time. And how would I possibly put it down to use the restroom or eat or do anything if I'm in the middle of an arm knitting project? Well, recently I saw another arm knitting tutorial on Pinterest, and this time I thought "Hey, I could do that!" So I found some yarn and tried it out. After a few first-attempts that didn't feel quite right, I made my first arm-knit scarf!

I believe I finished that one in one day. They're advertised as "30-minute Arm Knit scarves," and they really can only take 30 minutes if you do nothing but arm knit for those 30 minutes. I get easily distracted and have to take a break every few rows to respond to texts or play another episode on Netflix. But 30 minutes is a pretty accurate estimation. 

I didn't really like my first scarf all that much because it was WAY too bulky for me. When I did my second scarf, I didn't cast on as many as the video said to. I probably only did 9 or 10 when the lady in the video was doing 12. This was my second arm-knit scarf:

I believe I casted on 10 for this one and the yarn was a bit thinner, so it's not nearly as bulky as scarf number 1. I like this one a lot because it's my school colors and it matches a blue sweater that I have.

On Thanksgiving, I taught Tessa how to arm knit. We both used the same yarn for our scarves and I don't have a picture of mine, but here's hers:

Teal and black are Tessa's dance company's colors, so we'll be warm and supportive at her competitions with these scarves. 

You might have noticed that all of these scarves are some shade of blue. I noticed that too, so when I went yarn shopping the other day I picked up a couple skeins of this really pretty red wine colored yarn. Not only did I make a scarf out of it, but I had quite enough yarn left to finger knit a headband/ear warmer.

I'm so in love with this color and the buttons that I found for the headband. My new Burt's Bees plum lip shimmer looks really great with the dark red yarn. Today I put it all on:

Finger knitting feels really weird the whole time you're doing it, but it looks pretty cool! I'm not sure if there are finger knitting tutorials out there, but there probably are if you dig around enough. 

If you're interested in being handcuffed by yarn for half an hour and making beautiful, warm scarves with nothing but a couple skeins of yarn and your arms, this tutorial is awesome. If she doesn't do it for you, there are tons of other people that have made tutorials as well (which is partially why I'm not making a tutorial for it). You do have to learn to be slightly ambidextrous in order to arm knit, but don't let that scare you away. 

If you're like me and are worried about having to get up and do something important in the middle of knitting, my mom and I discovered that those little cardboard toilet paper rolls come in handy. Save one of those the next time you run out of toilet paper to transfer your yarn onto it when you need to get up. It should just slide from your arm to the roll, but you have to be careful that it doesn't slide off the roll. Don't forget which arm it was on last!

I hope I've inspired some of you to try this because it really is fun and makes such pretty scarves. For my next arm knitting project I'll be attempting a blanket! I'll try to take some pictures of my progress along the way and I'll definitely make a post about it. Stay warm!