Completion

Finally I have finished the wrist warmers I have been working on. I woke up earlier than I wanted to this morning so I decidedI would finish this project. It's been getting chillier in the school and my hands have been cold. After making the second one (which is really the first of this pair), I discovered that I had made it using my adjustments from the first one I had made. This made the second (which is really the first of the pair) one a little bigger than the first - that is, it went up further on my had and the cuff was lower down my arm as well. So, this resulted in the need to make the second (which is really the third) of the wrist warmers so that they would match. And I did. I had hoped to have them done earlier in the week, but I had been tired after work and busy on some occasions so I didn't get them done as quickly as I had hoped. Since I want them for work, and tomorrow is the start of a new work week, I decided to just sit and knit this morning for a few hours.

These went really quickly once I actually sat down and worked on them. They are rather plain - just some ribbing and stocking stitch, but I'm sure they will serve their purpose. I plan on making some more of these (maybe as gifts or for the mitten tree for next year - when I get back from Korea...which reminds me that I need to have my parents or someone take the stuff I did this year down to the church in a couple of weeks for me so it can go on the tree...but that's a whole other story). If my co-teachers express an interest in them, I just might make them some as well. I'd like to try to create my own pattern for them - like a cute cable design or something like that. I don't know how successful I'd be though, but I might at least try. If I don't like the looks of them, then I'll just stick to the gorgeous patterns others have created.

So, now that I have the wrist warmers completed, I can get back to work on my Yukon Leaves socks. I have done any work on them since starting the wrist warmers. I did, however, find the crochet hook I brought with me. It's a little bigger than I thought it was, but I don't think it's too big that I can't use it. So, all I need to do is is bring those stitches up ten or eleven rows and I can continue with the knitting. I have probably half way finished the foot on the first sock, maybe just a little under half way. I think I should have enough yarn for it, but I won't know for sure. I do hope I have enough. I made the leg about an inch or so shorter than I usually do because I didn't want to run out of yarn. I should have done a toe-up sock like people suggest to do when you are afraid you might not have enough yarn; then you can knit until you run out. Anyway, I'm hoping it will all work out. Not sure when I'll get up to Insa-dong to get another skein of the yarn if I do run out.

I'm also still working on untangling the Fleece Artist yarn spaghetti. I've got a lot of it done, but haven't been working on that lately either. I'm anxious to start Monica's Dancing Tulips pattern with that yarn.

I also ordered some Lorna's Laces yarn and another of Monica's patterns not long ago. I'm expecting that to come in this week - hopefully tomorrow. When I get it I will take a picture and post so you can see what I got.

Better head off now and do some laundry so I have something to wear this week. It takes so long for things to dry here (there are no dryers) so I need to make sure it's washed enough in advance so I will have clean clothes to wear by the time I need them. Also have to do this week's lesson plan as well...but I think I will do a little more knitting first (while the laundry is running - which takes about an hour for one load...). Happy knitting!

I Finished Something - Well, Sort Of...

Yes, you read that right. I finished some knitting. Sort of. It's been a little cold at work (I wonder if they have heaters there...) and I decided that it might be a good idea to keep a pair of fingerless gloves there so I can put them on to keep my hands warm and still have the ability to type on the computer or write on the chalk board.

It's just a basic pattern with a 1x1 ribbed cuff. I also knit about eight rows before putting stitches on a holder for the thumb. Then I just did a simple stocking stitch and ended with about four or five rows of 1x1 ribbing.

It was a quick knit which I enjoyed. I only made one so far, but will work on the other one tonight and hopefully get it finished for tomorrow. I still need to do my lesson plan for this week though, so I might not get to the second wrist warmer tonight.

The yarn I used was the tealish coloured Wool Lux 5 ply yarn that I picked up a few weeks ago here in Yesan, South Korea. Unfortunately I needed size 4mm needles, which I only have in circulars and these wrist warmers were much too small to use with them. So, the closest size in DPNs I had was 4.5mm which I found a little too big for this size of yarn. When I finish the second wrist warmer, I will still have plenty of yarn left to make others so I will try to use smaller needles next time...maybe 3.5mm would look fine, as long as I adjusted for gauge. I also had a little difficuly around the thumb (not sure if you can see in the above photo) when I picked up to knit the thumb stitches. Part of the reason was the needles being a little too big, but anyway, I ended up with a little bit of a hole showing.

I think in the next pair I make, I'll also knit it a little further up my fingers to at least the knuckles. These ones are ok, but I think I would enjoy them a little better if they were just a shaving longer. I might also make the cuff three inches or even three and a half instead of the two and a half I did on this one. I should make notes of what to change and maybe just use this one as a sample and then make a pair based on the changes that I want to make on the pattern. I was going to attempt some kind of cable pattern on this, but I decided that I wanted to have a pair made for tomorrow at work so I ripped out what I had (which wasn't much and didn't look all that great anyway), and just did regular stocking stitch.

In other news, last week I bought a little oven for my apartment. Most Koreans don't use ovens, and many of them wouldn't know how to even if they did have one (well, I'm sure if they went over the instruction manual they would). Anyway, when I leave Korea I will probably sell it to another foreign English teacher or if one of my coworkers (who are all Korean) want it I'd sell to them. It's about the size of a large microwave in my opinion. If you look carefully, you can see the reflection of my kitchen counter/sink in the front of the oven.

This afternoon I decided that I wanted to make some cinnamon bread. I had gotten the ingredients yesterday and thought I'd make something today. I really wanted to make brownies, but haven't found any cocoa powder here yet. I'd probably have to go to one of the bigger cities to find that though. Anyway, I did what I could with what I had and put the batter in to cook. The recipe called for 45-50 minutes at 350F...my oven is only in celcius that I am aware of (everything is also in Korean). I set the timer (figured out how to do it) for 45 minutes and ended up having to take the cinnamon bread out at 40 minutes...and the top looks cooked a little too much. I haven't cut into it yet as it's still cooling, so I don't know if it's cooked all the way through. I presume it is because I poked a toothpick into it in several places and it came out fine.

It's higher on one side than the other and I'm not sure if it's because there was more batter there (though I tried to smooth it out as best as I could by shaking the pan on the counter), or if it was because that side was closest to the center of the oven...I only noticed when it was nearly done that the pan wasn't in the center but closer to the door. Anyway, even if it is cooked a little too much on the top, and even if it is higher on one side, if it tastes good then I'll eat it and use this recipe again and maybe share it with the other foreign teachers in my building or take some into work and share with my coworkers. Really, this recipe was the "trial and error" where you make something for the first time (or test a new appliance) so you can know how it works.

Well, I'd better get working on my lesson plan for this week so I can get back to the wrist warmers. Happy Knitting!