Knitting Again!

So, I had a really hard time knitting the last couple of weeks, because of Detour and finals. But, now that both are done, I have a ton of free time to knit and draw and whatever! :D

I have up on the DS pouch thing. I got it basically knit up, but then I couldn't figure out how to sew the pockets together, and then my sister gave me her old case anyway. So.. yeah.

I've been working on my socks on-and-off, and I'm almost done with the heel flap. I wish I had made the top of the sock longer (the part above the ankle), but I don't really care enough to try and figure out how to fix it. I'll just know that for my next pair.

I did start my first lace project, which is also my first shawl! The Maja shawl! I'm happy with it so far, but I think there might be a mistake in the pattern. Either that, or I can't read. It could honestly go either way. I'm nearly ten rows in already, but it's one of the shawls that gets bigger as you work it, not smaller. :(

AND! I found my project bag! The one with yarn for fingerless mittens for my mom, stepmom, and her friend? Yeah. I found it while cleaning my room earlier today. I've finished the body on my moms second mitten, and I'm about to start the thumb. I hope to finish before she gets home. I'm so excited to have found these!

FO!

I finally finished something! And, since I used someone else's camera to take photos, I actually can post them! :D

From the front, here are the mittens I made for Mike! The tops look pointy in the picture, but they're pretty round in person.

And then again, from the back.

Everything from about where the fingers separate was improvised. I'm pretty happy with them. I guess Kate (the intended) loves them.

General Update

Oh hi.

So I'm still not sure how much I'll be charging my dad for the mittens. But that isn't my primary concern right now. I've lost the whole freaking project bag, which had both skeins my dad bought me, plus my mom's nearly completed (seriously. <15 rows left) mittens. I've been looking everywhere with no luck. :/

I went in for yarn therapy the other day and bought stuff for a few new projects. I got a couple of skeins of green Cascade 220 for the Cthuluclava pattern. I'm going to sell at least one at CONvergence this year; two if I've got time to make two. I bought two differently colored skeins of dreambaby dk yarn. I'm going to crochet it into tiny crabs for Detour. I'm thinking three dollars a piece, but I'm not sure, since I haven't actually made any yet. Then I bought two skeins of this pretty reddish purple Happy Feet yarn to make my first pair of socks for myself! I'm excited. Once I make my own first socks, I can get John to help me write a chart for those programming socks. I found a pattern already, but they're in C or something that he doesn't like. -shrug- The last thing I bought was a skein of Baby Alpaca insanely soft yarn. My friend Mike commissioned a pair of mittens off me for his friends birthday. I found a pattern on Ravelry for a pair of fingerless mittens with one cable up the back. I'm going to modify the pattern so that they're full mittens, though. I'm pretty excited to make them. I love cabling. Plus it's really thick yarn with pretty big needles, so they'll be done relatively quickly.

I'm also still working on the Longcat scarf for John, plus I'm starting a gauge swatch for a DS cozy for myself, so I can carry some games on me without taking up a billion space in my bag.

Charging for Knitting?

So, at the end of last year, I knit something that wasn't a gift for someone else for the first time. I charged him a total of 15 dollars or so - enough to buy the yarn, plus a little extra. That was so not enough.
How do other people charge for their knitting? I know there's a quote, "Knitting is like sex. If I like you, and you appreciate it, it's free. Otherwise, you couldn't pay me enough."
I'm not sure if 15 wasn't enough because the pattern was confusing, and I waited until the end of the semester to finish the project, which wasn't the commissioner's fault, really. Or was it because 15$ just straight-up wasn't enough? I've been told to charge for yarn x 2 or 3. But is this what I should do across the board?

Right now, I'm knitting two pair of fingerless mittens for my dad. They're incredibly simple, and by the time they're done, I'll have made 10 total gloves, all things considered. Should I charge my dad that much, though? Especially considering they're a V-day gift for my stepmom? I dunno. Argh.

In Progress Update

Howdy.
I've only been working on one project lately, partly because of school, and partly because I really like working on it. I'm making a longcat scarf for my boyfriend!




I'm actually considerably farther (further?) than this, but it's at the point where it would be sort of silly to take a picture, since it would look like some sort of weird racing stripe with feet. I'm having a lot of fun making it, following this pattern. It's about as long as my arm now, actually. I'm still having a great time making it!

I'm also about to start my first (second, technically, after my own) of three (again, four technically) of my modified version of these glitzy fingerless mittens: one for my mom, one for my stepmom, and one for someone that she works with, I guess? I am so not excited to do all that ribbing again. But my mom is so excited for them, and my dad is paying me double the yarn cost to keep them a surprise, so I suppose it's alright.

Picture Post Four: St. Paul Ripper's Secret Santa

These gloves were made as part of a Secret Santa exchange with my knitting group.
Not the best pictures, I know, but I only finished the gloves an hour before the exchange! She loved them, though, so it was worth it.

Picture Post Three: Colorwork Fingerless Mittens

My first attempt at colorwork! I am really proud of these gloves and how they came out. Take a look!




































And my cousin loved them. <3