Going to Portland on Monday... + Knitting Updates

Sorry again for neglecting this blog. I had a post for March but it somehow got deleted. >_<; wtf. I am going on a business trip to Portland on Monday and I will be gone for exactly 8 days... returning on the 14th. I hope to take some good photos while there and maybe explore the city a little after my conference is over. A friend of mine from college is driving down from Seattle just to see me. Yay! :) I have never been there before, so it should be fun to explore a new city. It's been a few years since I was out to the West Coast. I was in Arizona last year...I don't recall if I posted any photos or not. I have been so bad about that, I know! Sorry! >__<; I know I posted photos of my trip to Philly a while back. But yeah. Long flight on Monday so I plan to bring lots of ...you guessed it.. knitting! (I love how this blog started out as a fashion and makeup blog and has slowly shifted to knitting. LOL.) So yeah. KNITTING: I got a cute hedgehog knitting gauge!

Also finished a simple hat for my BF's dad. Baby Alpaca Grande by Plymouth Yarn. Love how soft it is. Might even be softer than Cascade Baby Alpaca Chunky... hmm.

I messed up a few times though...the pattern said to use straight needles but that if you wanted it seamless, you could use circulars. Obviously I went with the circulars because they're so easy to use and I didn't feel like doing a three needle bind off to make a seam or w/e it's called.

Also decided I would try to start a new pattern. It's called Ojo de Dios by Vanessa Ewing. It's only available from Interweave Magazine (Winter 2013 edition, I think.)


See here for more info:


http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/ojo-de-dios-shawl

Not really sure if I know what I am doing though... I thought I did, but after knitting a triangle and a half, it dawned on me that I had somehow accidentally put the garter stitch on the right side instead of the wrong side. Derp. I kind of like the way it looks but now I am struggling to pick up stitches and match it. Uggh. >__<;; I am sure I will figure this out eventually but it's going to take me a little while. Only 2nd time using DPNs. The first time I used DPNs I attempted to knit fingerless mitts...it didn't go so well. I ended up getting 1/4 of the way done with one mitt and totally messed up on the thumb gusset... alas. :(
Still trying to figure out those pesky triangles. >__< I managed to find some big enough buttons I liked at the local knit shop while I was purchasing my Gina yarn for the Ojo de Dios shawl and I attached one to finish my mug cozy!
OK so it still needs blocked.... but yeah. You get the idea. xD

I still haven't blocked anything before. I guess I am still a knitting n00b. I'm gonna take my friend's advice though and get those puzzle piece interlocking mats from Harbor Freight and some non-rust T-pins and go that route for blocking... and my other friend gave me instructions on how to block! I am so glad to have friends who like to knit. I'd be totally lost otherwise (or spending lots more time on the intarwebz, lol.)

In other news... I am STILL playing Rune Factory 4. I got Rune Factory 3 for 3DS as well but it's not as fun, haha. I think it's a mixture of the fact that I was spoiled with such cool new features in 4 that 3 is just...meh. I still can't figure out how to auto-sort like in 4 (maybe you can't!) and plus I just dislike the characters in 3. IDK why. They just seem so...flat. But then again I felt that way about a lot of characters in 4 until I invested a lot of play time into it. Oh well. Maybe I will do a separate post with my musings....hmm.