More cheer!

So I'm still feeling all bitchy and exhausted, but the sun came out today. And even though I really wish I could go out and board in it, I still can't help but feel awesome in the sun. I tried going out for lunch and discovered just how much my shuffle-walk has been buggering up my knee while waiting for my groin to heal. Back on the couch with the legs up and taking pictures of my laptop love cove(r) from here.

Featured in the above image:

1. My whittled chopstick/cabling needle - I started off knitting with sanded chopsticks of which I have too many. During that time, I began cabling. Scored the chopstick (okay, I was trying to cut all the way through) with a pair of scissors and then broke it in half off the kitchen counter. Serious mis-use of a paring knife. Hand sanded with left over sandpaper. Works awesome although I can really see the use of having a curved cabling needle.
2. Wild oak cables - I think I'm doing these wrong. Or this is how they're supposed to look. I think the former.
3. Super-easy twisty cables! - do these even have a name?
4. My not-chopsticks-needles - in fact, they are bamboo ended circular needles. The pattern calls for circular needles, although I have yet to figure out why. Probably so the dudes the pattern is targeted to don't feel like grandmas with their needles. Obviously not comfortable with their granniness.
5. Mah wicked yarn - probably going to get 30 rows out of one ball. Which means that I will need about 4 balls, maybe three and a half with the adaptations I made to the pattern.

I like numbered bullets. It's like I have something important to say. I wish I had thought to number my image for reference (zomg, which one is the cabling needle and which one is the circular needle?? she didn't number the image to correspond with her list!!)

You know what, food? I love you.

Laptop love cove(r)

I really love knitting cables. I also love knitting for my friends. I have so far only done two projects for myself and they were just to understand techniques. The rest have been given away. Current project: macbook cover.

This one is a bit of a challenge for me because I've never read cable charts before. It's not hard, but I need a little notepad with hash marks to make sure I'm on the right row next to me the whole time. I get distracted easily.

Using the Knitting with Balls pattern for the aran laptop cover.

I ended up making a fair number of changes, as I want to add a zipper along the length of the laptop and have the flap on the short side. The sizing was also a little difficult for me to figure out how to adjust appropriately, so I just did a swatch and some math. But I'm sticking to the cable patterns.

I'm looking forward to completing this one as there are a lot of finishes that need to go on (see above) and I'm not entirely sure how I'm going to pull it off without a sewing machine. The cables are also coming out a little funny (the wild oak cable is messy looking) so I'm going to try my hand at blocking for the first time and hopefully that will help.

The yarn I'm using is wonderful. The colour is perfect for my friend (mossy green) and looks wicked with the aran style. It's a merino, so it managed to knock me back a bit, but at least this project will be way cheaper than the Dr. Who scarf I ended up gifting to a friend in Chicago.