Bowled Over.

So.

2008-10-07T00:06:00.003-04:00

Let me explain, should anyone come across this again, why I haven't and won't be updating.

I've kept a LiveJournal for something like eight years now, and I've grown accustomed to it. In my LJ, I can talk about whatever I want; how much I jerked off yesterday, knitting, fandom, random things I hate in the neighbourhood. And so writing this blog - or attempting to - was a massive exercise in compartmentalising my life, and I couldn't do it.

Although it wasn't the case, it felt an awful lot like lying. I am very active online in a lot of things. Most folks who keep knitblogs are not. I can trace my online origins back to the starting days of Xena: Warrior Princess fandom, whereas a good number of you lovely people that I've met through Ravelry or other online crafty dealies are comparative new kids on the block. And there's nothing wrong with that, not at all.

But, I felt weird not giving everyone all of me, you know? I like knitting, sure, but I don't JUST like knitting. I like TV news and science and genuine lesbian porn and ranting about my shitty life. I like movies where Michael Caine kills bad guys and I like hockey. But I don't have blogs for each individual thing that I like.

No, I have the one LiveJournal, and I speak of unspeakable things in it; my vibrator collection, my transgendered boyfriend, getting high, supergay fan fiction. And you don't want to hear about those things.

Trust me.

Seriously.

2008-02-18T15:57:00.002-05:00

What a bore I've been! I'm going to start blogging full-time again soon, I promise. Even for a lazy ass without a job, I've been pretty busy. The boyfriend was up visiting for a week and that required two weeks of cleaning. The job hunt continues. I'm knitting a sweater. The usual.

Pictures soon! Gobs of them!

Yarn That I Have!

2008-01-14T13:19:00.000-05:00

I've decided, in the interest of keeping me actually blogging, that every Monday will be for showcasing some yarn that I have. Yeah. Just yarn I have. Maybe a ball, maybe two, maybe twelve. I'm just going to post a picture of some yarn that I have. Maybe there's a story with it, maybe I'm half-finished a project with it, or maybe it's just a ball of yarn I have that means absolutely nothing.

And don't worry, I won't be classing it up. If I happen to pick up a ball of something slightly embarrassing, so be it. I figure this will last a few years. Because. There's a lot of yarn. And on Fridays, I'll be doing Books That I Have, which I ripped off from a sci-fi blog that I didn't bookmark. Knitting books, non-knitting books, books I've read, books I've been meaning to. Just a book that I have, every Friday.

But now, to today's...Yarn That I Have!

Yes, you're reading that right. Sweater Boy Frontier. I have no idea what that means either. It's obviously Japanese, Olympus, which still makes yarn. Expensive yarn.

All of this, plus one ball that was actually used was $4.99 at the Salvation Army. I buy a lot of yarn at the Sally Ann. Okay, I buy a lot of things in general there. And I will buy more things there, because this year one of my resolutions is to not be such a consumer whore. Back to the yarn.

It's VERY Lopi-esque. In fact, when I saw the bag, the yarn was packed in such a way that I couldn't see any labels, and didn't find them until I got home. I poked a hole in the bag in the store to pet, and I swore it was Lopi. It had to be Lopi. It isn't, and that's just fine.

I love you, Japan. So far, this is all I've made though.

The tea cosy that I was calling Aoife until the Knitty pattern of the same name came along. Between you and me? I like my tea cosy better. I do have a pattern for it forthcoming, it just needs a new name.

And thus ends the first installment of...Yarn That I have!

Oh boy.

2008-01-03T15:12:00.000-05:00

I hope everyone had a great holiday season! Now that the period of enforced mirth is over, we can all return to our normal lives. I admit, I was a bit of a grinch this year, and one trip to the mall was all it took for me decide that I'd rather finish my shopping online. I couldn't wait for January 2nd to roll around so everyone could get back to work and everything could get back to normal. It was a pretty depressing holiday all around, but especially New Years. I usually spend it cuddled up on the couch and on the phone with my (long distance) boyfriend, watching CNN's New Years dealie, but he went out to a party. He had a great time so I feel kind of guilty being upset over it. Oh well, over now!

And knitting things! Right! Well, my mother decided to wash my Clapotis. The yarn I used is not unlike Malabrigo in that it felts if you even look at it. While she assures me she used cold water and no dryer, I'm not so sure. Behold, Clapotis. The years-long adventure, reduced to this:

Yeah.

It felted. Completely.

Maybe she did just use cold water, and had she used warm, I'd have a cute little washcloth. I said it was okay, because I wanted to make another one anyway, but it did get me pretty upset. At least it's still really soft?

I bought Son of Stitch n' Bitch a few days ago. I have a love/hate relationship with the series and Debbie Stoller (who, by the way, is called a "knitting superstar" on the back of the book, wtf.) but I fell in love with the patterns immediately. So many nice socks for boys, great sweaters (especially the one by Jared Flood) and the elusive manly scarf. A few of them, actually. But I had to start the main cover project immediately.

Uncle Argyle Scarf.

Double-sided!

It's a different technique of double knitting than I'd done before and the first pass was hell and I made a mistake or two, but I've got it down now. You work every stitch, every row, instead of working half, slipping the rest and going back and working the slipped stitches. It's faster once you get the hang of it. The yarn is just some Paton's Classic I had sitting around (who doesn't?) and so far, I love it. I'm determined to do at least a pattern repeat a day. There are 23 repeats, so it'll be finished by at least February. I can't stop squishing it!

Dyeing! I've been slacking on my grand plan of dyeing lots and lots of yarn and selling it and being all famous and what not. But here's a glimpse of my first actual knitting with yarn I've dyed. The base was just Scheepjes, which I scored a crapload of when my Lewiscraft closed.

I like the colourway. Other people like the colourway. I love the needles too, but...

Yeah. See that metal sticking out? That's because the tip of my Pony DPN snapped off when my sister picked it up. Wtf! Does that really happen? So weird. It's the second DPN I had break on me in as many days. I was working on some mittens and the bamboo on the needle caught on the yarn and just splintered all the way down the needle. Eeep. So I need to get another set of those too. Happy Holidays, all your needles are breaking!

And that's the most exciting things that have happened to me lately! Big time stuff!

At least it isn't me.

2007-12-04T18:28:00.000-05:00

Bloggers everywhere mourn the lack of sun for our sometimes daily picture taking. Couple that with switching all of our indoor lights to fluorescent and it's a bad recipe for showing off.

I have a number of things that I have to finish, and I'm not ordinarily in that position. It's a bit strange. I don't usually knit for presents so I'm not used to the deadlines or the sinking feeling that comes with wondering if you'll make said deadline.

And what's the best way to deal with deadlines? By not thinking about them! Behold, Janis rants about her current projects and other things!

My deadline projects are:

1. Selbuvotter gloves or mittens for the Ravelry Mitten Swap. I'm almost finished one, but it got put to the bottom of the pile during November. I can do about a quarter of one in a day, so that's not really a problem. However, the knowing of this is, because I keep saying I'll work on it later because it's so fast. Bad idea. I'm pulling it out tonight.

2. Sweater class sweater. This is a lot of stocking stitch. Yes, I still call it stocking stitch, whatever. I've finished the body, half-finished one sleeve and still have to buy the yarn for the Houndstooth fair isle at the bottom. But once I get everything joined and the yoke begun, I'll be flying. This is for the sweater design class at Serenity Knits, but classes have been put on hold indefinitely, as my teacher's mother just passed away. So there isn't a real deadline for it anymore, just...soon.

And my other project are:

1. Handpainted socks. Yes, I do still plan to make a paltry living off of handpainting yarns. I've just been totally sidetracked by NaNoWriMo that I haven't been able to dye more. It really completely sucked my life up this year. But my first socks will be finished! Maybe!

2. Vog On socks. Riiight, those. They're so close to being finished that when I do sit down to finish them I'll feel like a moron for having left them so long. Just like my Slackotis.

(By the way, every time I look at my Clapotis, I want to make another one immediately. Out of handspun. Oy.)

3. Crochet bolero, Short & Sweet from, shudder, the Happy Hooker. I love the book, don't get me wrong. But the name, the name. I hate when people say "hooker" or "hooking" or whatever in reference to crochet. Oh, it uses a hook! Aren't you being SO BAD by calling yourself a hooker! My goodness! You're so saucy! Stfu. You're not. It's stupid. And the intro in the book?! Don't you dare try and tell me the word "hooker" for prostitute came into use because they crocheted in factories and worked the streets at night. That's a lie, Debbie Stoller, and you know it. I admit, it makes for a cute little story but if there was any research beyond crochet web pages going on, it can be proved wrong quite easily. That being said, it's a cute book although my copy seems to have the most errors allowed by law. The bolero is cute and I can't wait to wear it at holiday things.

4. Spinning brown tweedy merino for gloves for Alex. I've started the spinning part. I'm almost finished? I can't spin for extended periods of time anymore (say, hours at once) because my back just recoils in horror. But, I might have them done for our anniversary in February. Two years, by the way. Twoooo years.

5. The bathrobe sweater. Oh, right. A wrap sweater that I'm lazily working on, out of Knit Picks Crayon in the least offensive colour, cream.

6. Malabrigo gloves for bead knitting class, the last class of which was cancelled due to bad weather. Just let me say that again though: Malabrigo. Gloves. I'm glad I opted for gloves and not mittens. I've finished one, I didn't have a pattern and the finger joins are kind of wonky, but man. Malabrigo gloves.

You know, I think that's all of my projects that I'm actively working on. Actively being the key word. I'd love to be able to finish all of my projects before the new year and enter 2008 project-debt-free, but, alas, not this year. Maybe next year.

And!! Happy Chanukah! Latkes and if I weren't so scared of frying things, soofganiot. Mmm. Donuts.

Okaaay.

2007-11-28T18:36:00.000-05:00

My triumphant return to blogging actually took place elsewhere today; I've had my first article published on the Huffington Post!

I don't really talk about it much here, but I went to college for radio broadcasting and have been involved in some form of media ever since. When fellow Canadian and HuffPo Media Editor, Rachel Sklar, asked if I was interested in contributing, I had trouble not yelling YES YES MY GOD YES. I still remember fondly the day HuffPo launched. Ah, good times. So be on the look out for future media related stories of mine on the Huffington Post!

I'll still update here, don't worry. It's just harder to catch good light in the winter, but I'll try! I really haven't made much knitting progress anyway, but I can't tell you how nice it is to be able to spin or knit for an hour without having that nagging feeling that I should be working on my novel.

And I'm so proud of everyone on the Ravelry NaNoWriMo group! I'm really surprised at how big it ended up and how active it was! It was great to have a group of people to share my word count with at the end of the day. Community really does help, no matter what you're doing.

Huzzah!

2007-11-26T19:11:00.001-05:00

Let the blogging begin again!

I finished my novel for NaNoWriMo just after midnight and am really looking forward to returning to the land of the knitting/living/blogging.

Now, to think up what my novel-is-finished reward should be. Hmm.

The time is at hand!

2007-10-31T16:44:00.001-04:00

For the next month, updates will be a little more sparse than usual. While I'm working on NaNoWriMo, I'll be blogging my progress every day on my personal (re: scary, offensive, flaily) LiveJournal. Alternately, you can check my progress at my NaNo profile or, if you're on Ravelry, I'll be updating my progress at the NaNoWriMo group as well.

And, if you want to help me contribute to the wonderful people that make NaNo possible every year, you can donate a dollar or two on my behalf to the Office of Letters & Light. They work really hard and I can't give as much as I'd like to this year.

Phew.

So how will my knitting fare? Well, I'm using my biggest KnitPicks tote bag to isolate the things I'm allowed to work on this month so I don't spend hours in the basement riffling through yarn to avoid writing. So what projects will be spending the month with me?

A Selbuvotter glove, which is pixellated because it's for a swap.

The now long-suffering Vog-Ons, my swing jacket for design class, and some sock yarn I dyed in plum and orange which will just be plain vanilla socks. And some fibre, of course, though I'm having trouble spinning lately. My back has been really bad lately. Last night I thought it would be okay enough to spin, but oh my god, it was not. The second I got up, everything was just screaming. Yuck.

Oh, and Happy Halloween! I ate a disturbing amount of candy last night. That's the way to celebrate.

Oh, and Kay, I'll email you about the sock yarn! Knitted Squirrel, if you can shoot me off an email to thelasthelicopterer at gmail dot com, I'll send you some as well. The offer still stands for anyone else who'd like to give my handpainted sock yarn a whirl!

I'm alive.

2007-10-23T20:54:00.000-04:00

I swear. I'm just not doing anything exciting at all. Seriously. I finished this:

But it's bunchy and crappy and I found three more balls of the yarn, so I can make a full length sweater.

I'm working on some patterns that I do plan to submit to Knitty in my quest to become a Real Live Designer, so I can't blog about those. The other thing I'm rabidly working on is some mittens from Selbuvotter but they're for a mitten swap so I don't want to reveal too much about them either. Let's just say everyone needs that book. It's beautiful.

Oh, and I'm constantly updating my Etsy store with new handpainted things and I'm looking for two or three people to test out some of my handpainted sock yarns so I can see what they look like! I can only knit so fast. The only catch is you have to pimp my humble wares on your blog if you like the yarn. Comment and let me know! Free yarn!

Nawhawhamo?

2007-10-09T17:30:00.000-04:00

While most knitters are gearing up for Shannon's NaKniSweMo, I'm planning for NaNoWriMo again. I pulled out a win last year due to some great self-discipline and a healthy amount of planning both on my own and with the boyf. Also things like a new laptop without distracting crap on it and limited time to write helped.

This year, I don't have a job and my laptop is full of crap but I'm hopeful. The only trouble is, I can't remember what I was knitting last year. I know I allowed myself knitting time based on writing time but I can't remember what I was knitting, exactly. I blogged about the entire process on my other blog, but I didn't mention what I was knitting, not even once. Socks though. I know I'll be working on socks this year. And a sweater.

I'm working on a design for my Designing Your Perfect Sweater class at Serenity Knits and I think I'm swatching too much. Is there such a thing? Let's round up the culprits.

1. Standard stockinette stitch swatch to check for drape, stitch definition, etc. I later added an i-cord border in some charcoal handspun that I may or may not employ.

2. Cable swatch to determine how they look on the yarn. Bad.

3. Mock cable swatch to see how that looks with the yarn. Possible yoke candidate, top down. Bad.

4. Cobblestone-like bottom up garter stitch swatch. Decent.

5. Ribbed yoke, top down. Passable. Isn't finished and I'm working on reversing the shaping.

The class involves using a computer to spit out a pattern, which I have balked at. That's not really teaching you how to design your own sweater. That's teaching you how to take measurements, and then follow directions that someone else has given you. A real sweater design involves calculators and a spread of all of Elizabeth Zimmermann's books and no less than three issues of Interweave Knits for reference. And, maybe, counting stitches on pictures on the computer because that particular issue of Knitter's Magazine is no longer in print and not available for backorder.

But, every sweater is born differently. Yours might come fully formed out of a computer program. Mine come from pencil scribbles and haphazard diagrams.

Anyway, that's all you're going to be seeing of the sweater, because I have grand hopes of it turning out well and being submission material somewhere. It's not just a sweater, it's a swing coat.

I hope.

Mama's First Lightbox.

2007-09-28T16:27:00.000-04:00

Not so much a box, but I did use the back of a box (full of a few pounds of Coopworth, no less) for support. I noticed how nice my sheer white blind diffused the light the other morning and thought it would be the perfect place for setting up a big shot yarn photo operation. I'm sured you're all sick of my kitchen table. And, lo and behold, I have yarn to take pictures of!

Like I said, when my knitting slacks, I try to do other creative and still yarny things to keep my brain at it. So, there's been lots of spinning.

Flawful Fiber's September bats, which are a mix of a gabillion different things. Julie explains on her blog. First bats I've ever spun! I have two more that I'm going to try woolen spinning on today.

This is the Fleece Artist merino I've been working on.

It's 233 yards, about DK weight, I haven't wpi'ed it yet. I think I finally have yarn for socks!

Pretty. It's really squishy and soft.

So then I was rooting around in the cupboard yesterday and I found some Wilton icing colour! In brown! Dreamy! So I dyed up some worsted merino with it, and the other colours in the pack.

This is yellow, brown, and blue, which all sort of migrated into a nice spring green with spots of light brownish-red. It wasn't what I was going for, but I was pleasantly surprised.

I don't know the actual term for the kind of dyeing I did next, but this was the one where you have a jar with the dye in it and add an end of the yarn but keep the rest suspended, and then put it in a pot of water. Leave it for five minutes, then come back and squish more yarn in the jar and add more water, repeat until jar is full. Then I put the whole thing in the hot water/vinegar to simmer for a bit. I got this:

Which I love. Love love love. This is my favourite part.

LOVE. So then I went on ebay and found some acid dyes for cheap, 33 pounds for $31. So I can pretend and practice at being a real dyer.

I also may be bidding on a swift and a ball winder, because I can't deal with not having them anymore. Mostly the swift because I don't mind winding a ball by hand, but if I have to wrap a skein by hand one more time, I'm going to lose it. If someone outbids me on the swift though, I have a skeinwinder lined up that can work as well. In fact, it might work better. But we'll see.

Stuck.

2007-09-24T23:10:00.000-04:00

Remember how everyone in the world was stalled with their projects over the summer? Well, it's my turn. I have project ADD, I have startitis, I've hit various black holes and I just plain don't want to do anything.

Usually, I crochet when this happens. I can slap together a crochet project in no time flat, provided it's small and interesting. But even crochet isn't helping; I started another Secret Method hat but I don't even feel like doing that. It's boring, the yarn doesn't want to do it, what do I need another hat for anyway? Arg.

What do you do when you're in a funk? For the time being, I'm concentrating on spinning and cooking. Fall is generally my busiest baking time but the oven is still out of commission, which annoys me to no end. I finally get good instruction for a sour dough starter and I won't have anywhere to bake the actual bread!

Oh, and good news! While I was away, I won the August gift certificate drawing at Unwind! What fate! I don't go in there much anymore because I'm not in Newmarket and they don't have the greatest hours, but it's really one of my favourite shops. As a young knitter who is often, unfortunately, treated like a novice everywhere I go, it's nice to talk to a young shop owner who doesn't assume the sock yarn I'm buying is for my first pair of socks. I can't even tell you how many times I get that one. They've also got a spinning group that I have to remember to ask about when I go in for my spending of the gift certificate.

Maybe having free reign to get $25 of whatever I want with no project in mind will spark some creativity? I hope so.

And I'm going to try my damndest to get over to Pick Up Sticks brick and mortar store in Bradford over the next week; the bus makes it really simple, even easier than getting to most in-town yarn stores. I know it's kind of selfish, but I do wish more yarn store owners would consider those of us who don't drive when choosing their locations. It would take an hour and a half to take the bus to Serenity Knits when it's a ten minute drive. I'd walk, but there aren't sidewalks along most of my route.

Maybe I should get a bike. Also, a job.

Return!

2007-09-20T16:00:00.000-04:00

Aaah. Vacations. Two whole weeks with the boyfriend, two whole weeks of eating like a pig and not always putting pants on. Two weeks with a delicious dog who mostly loves me in the beautiful New Jersey countryside. Big yards, walking, playing, leisurely knitting and spinning. Not much progress to recount, and less purchases than I expected.

The travelling sock:

Vog-Ons in Seacoast's Panda in The Good Earth. Note the needles. Pink, plastic, non-threatening. Why yes, this was my first time knitting on a plane. I just wanted to make sure I had the least threatening needles ever. It's the perfect pattern for travelling; only two lace rows to remember! Though, I had to put the second one down on the plane because I didn't have my fantastic Twisted Sisters Sock Workbook on hand, and I was at the heel.

Hourglass heel. I've only done it a few times and it's not in my head like the regular ol' heel flap version.

I didn't buy a lot of yarn and fibre while I was away, though it was tempting. The Spinnery has a great selection of spinning fibre and I was horribly tempted many a time. I made away with some gorgeous hand-dyed yarn for socks:

And 6oz of natural brown merino:

...that I think my boyfriend covets more than I do. He kept talking about how cool the colour was and how he wondered what it would look like when I spun it, because of the white fuzz in it. And how much he loves natural colours, which, I suppose, was a hint that anything I knit for him should be in natural colours. Fine by me!

I keep saying I won't buy more merino but...then I keep feeling it up and I realise how much I need more/all of it. White fuzz!

I think the best part was that the woman working there gave me two back issues of Spin-Off that I didn't have for free. Free. That shit is $12 each here! Free! I was incredibly pleased with that.

And oh my god.

I finally finished my Clapotis for the Knitting Olympics that were, um, two years ago?

I was digging around in the basement for stuff to bring with me on vaycay and found the Clap, and the lone hank of yarn that had to come all the way from South America for me to finish it. Of course, it never arrived in time and I lost my steam. So it's been sitting in the basement for almost two years.

No longer!

It's finished. I'm a little ashamed that it only took me a few hours to finish when it's been sitting in the basement for so long because I thought finishing it would be such a chore.

It's so warm and cosy and, yes, merino. And impossible to take a good big picture of. But come on, we've all seen a Clapotis before.

...I want to make another one.

Eyecandy!

2007-09-03T14:29:00.000-04:00

I'm on vacation for the next two weeks, going to New Jersey to visit the boyfriend, so I'll leave you with some eyecandy of the spinning variety.

Remember this?

Now it's this.

Merino/bamboo from Flawful Fiber, 150 yards.

I can't say I'm entirely pleased with how it turned out. I spun it fairly tightly and it just wouldn't hold the twist at all when I plied it, so it puffed up a lot. I love the sheen bamboo gives though, so I'm definitely going to make an effort to learn how to do it right.

And this is more from Flawful, my August surprise.

Rabouillet, 160 yards with some Angelina spun in for awesomeness. I'm terribly pleased with this.

It's so soft and springy. Definitely one of my favourite fibres to work with thus far.

Looove.

And right now, in between the packing and general running around that always happens before a trip, I'm working on some Fleece Artist merino. I'm learning how to spin thin because my goal in spinning, nay, in life, is to spin sock yarn. It's why I started spinning, to be honest.

I know merino by itself isn't durable enough for a sock yarn, so if I do end up with a usable sockish type yarn, I'll design some pretty pastel bed socks. My feet are always cold. I rarely sleep without socks on, even if I'm sleeping in some sexy-little-nothing, I've got big ol' socks on.

So yes, vacation! I've found a place about an hour from where I'll be called the Spinnery so you better believe I'm hitting that up. Especially after last summer's twice-failed trip to Woolbearers. We got lost the first time, and arrived on a Monday the second time. They're closed on Mondays, of course. Alex assures me the Spinnery is easy to get to, which is good because I do kind of feel bad dragging him around to spinning and knitting places on his vacation.

Now, I have to sort out what knitting to take. I'm working on some very odd things lately. A wrap sweater that's more like a bathrobe, a self-designed pair of bloomers that, if they turn out well, will be submish material, and some underpants from Naughty Needles. Talk about bedroom knitting all around!

See you on the 19th!

Long-Suffering FOs.

2007-08-29T19:05:00.000-04:00

I've finished a few things recently that I haven't taken pictures of, either because I was too lazy, or because I wasn't entirely pleased with the final product. So here, dear readers, is the first of a series of grainy bathroom photos:

I really should have cleaned that mirror first. Okay, it's not entirely finished. Some ends need to be woven in and I need to block it, but I finally did the edging though! It's taken months because there were a lot of stitches to pick up and I used to hate doing that. It's the Cherry Bomb tank from Big Girl Knits. I doubt I'll be wearing it as a tank, because I'm a slave to layers and love looking like a sexy librarian.

I love the waist shaping. It's beautiful. It was the first time I did waist shaping and it does make a huge difference. I'll never not do it. Bust shaping as well. I could have used an extra short row or two, but it fits fine.

And...

The Puff-Sleeved Feminine Cardigan from Fitted Knits.

If I could knit this again I'd do less decreasing for the sleeves, which wouldn't make them puff-sleeved, but would make them fit better, and I'd have bought more yarn so I could make it longer.

As it was, I needed two extra balls, which really pissed me off. I got gauge with the exact yarn the pattern called for, with the needle size it called for as well. I know everyone knits differently, but there's no reason why I should need two extra balls. Knit Picks was out of my dye lot by the time I figured out I needed more, but thanks to Ravelry, I was able to find another ball in the same dye lot which finished off the sleeves. I had to do the button bands in the odd dye lot. I also decided against buttons because of my expansive chest and love of padded/pointy bras. And after seeing how the bands pulled on even the smallest chest.

It was a fun pattern though, and I'd definitely knit it again with modifications. The yarn is gorgeous, too. Very affordable.

Speaking of sexy librarians and my chest, I just got Naughty Needles. Oh my god. Oh. My god. I immediately cast on the bottoms on the front. My burlesque alter-ego is well pleased, and I suspect my boyfriend will be too. I'm excited to find I have yarn for two of these patterns in my stash already! And I may or may not be spinning some rambouillet with sparkles for something. Okay, I was spinning it before and then last night I thought how cute a sparkled something smutty would look. Besides, it's really soft. It deserves to be something next-to-skin.

And the Tyrolean stocking is done.

It doesn't fit my legs. I'm not sure what to do about it; rip it out and knit it on bigger needles like the pattern suggests, block the hell out if it and see if that works, or just keep this one as an objet d'art? It was a fun pattern and very easy to get the hang of, but I don't know if I have the stamina to knit two more.

What would you do?

Of stockings and churches.

2007-08-23T17:41:00.000-04:00

Tuesday was Stephanie Pearl-Mcphee in my fantastic town of Aurora. And this time, I actually talked to her. Last year was kind of standing quietly and saying my name and then staring. This time I brought a so-called endangered friend to prove that, although rare, it does exist. Stephanie met the argyle and assured me that no matter what EZ said, they aren't obsolete.

No matter what rare offering I brought though, the woman in front of me in line brought Stephanie beer. No one can compete with beer. I was forbidden to go to Needles & Knits afterwards to buy things, but that's okay. I'm saving up for some special things.

And of course, I forgot I had my camera in my bag so you'll have to be content with some pictures from Sandra and, of course, Stephanie.

I wasn't at any point in my knitting to mindlessly knit away and listen. The heel was just about to be turned on the Tyrolean stocking and I didn't want to mess it up. I'm almost sad I'm finished the cables though, but I know once I finish this sock, there's another one waiting for me, and it'll just fly by. Here's some badly lit progress.

The front cable, which was the one I messed up on three times. Once I had to unknit that needle because I'd forgotten the cable completely (it's worked on every even row, the rest of the cables are every fourth), another time I crossed two stitches too early, and another I crossed in the wrong direction. Only three mistakes for, say, 16 full repeats of that cable which means 96 crossings doesn't seem too bad though, and I was able to fix them all.

It's hard to really express how long it is.

But it's long.

Finally, let's all welcome my friend Diane to knitting. She's taking classes at Lettuce Knit which made me very excited because it's an awesome store. I've been friends with her forever and I love seeing progress as people learn! You better keep posting about your knitting, woman.

But oh, Valencia.

2007-08-14T14:39:00.000-04:00

I have decided to name my new pet Valencia. She's sleek, smooth, and my current pride and joy. I sang in my head while she was assembled because I was too excited to even move away from the box to get my iPod, and what I most often sang was the Decemberists, specifically, O Valencia. It's a perfect name from my absolute favourite band; old-timey and modern all at once.

But who, or what, is Valencia?

Meet Valencia.

Valencia is my Louet S17 Kit wheel. I bought her from Hello Yarn, which is also where I bought my first spindle from a year and a half ago.

I put it together all by myself. I don't know how other wheels come, but this one was, like it says, a kit. Think of model cars. Yeah. Now, I'm basically retarded when it comes to putting things together, and I was a bit worried because Adrian said she'd forward me her own directions for putting it together, but I didn't have any problems. I was up and spinning in no time! So I spun this.

Fleece Artist Merino, two braids of it. It took me a week to spin one on a spindle! 2-ply, bigger than I wanted but remarkably even for my first wheel spun. And I just love this photo.

Why yes, I'd love to live in this lush valley of merino. Mm. It'll be up for sale on Etsy soon, if anyone's interested.

And in knitting news, because I do still knit, I started the Tyrolean stockings from the new Interweave Knits. I love them. They're Knit Picks Wool of the Andes that was formerly a Gryffindor house sweater.

And I finished the Betsy bag from Spin to Knit.

My favourite part is the side welts.

Though making them drove me nuts. It's basically a stockinette stripe that you have to gather together and backstitch and I kept thinking, there must be an easier way! Anyway, it's my own handspun alpaca for the flap, and the body is Manos Del Uruguay. I've said to myself on many occasions, "Why would you buy Manos just to felt it?!" and then I did, so I can't say that anymore.

Phew. Big update! And I'm SUPER excited about SPM here in Aurora next week! And in a basement no less! Last time was death. I'm going to work on my argyles so I can take them and be all LOOK, THE RARE ENDANGERED ARGYLE! I know they are, though. Even EZ called them obsolete back in the 70s, sadly.

Oh well. I'm nothing if not startlingly old-fashioned.

Catchall!

2007-08-03T16:01:00.000-04:00

Threadbared is dead. May it rest in peace. As a collector/scavenger of vintage patterns, I loved their snarking of pantyhose crafts and macramé vests. I always appreciate the absurd in normal places, and will miss their hilarity. But, I might just dig through my own patterns and post some of the more ridiculous ones from time to time. It's odd that Value Village is always the best place for vintage patterns, but the Sally Ann just a few doors down from it is the best place for yarn. Convenient, but weird.

And just look at the mittens Jane is working on! Ever since I started rabidly reading Elizabeth Zimmermann's books, I've wanted to do some Latvian mittens. I have some Knit Picks Palette hanging around from their Tulip socks, so I might see if I can figure something out. Spring-like mittens for the winter would be so cute.

Speaking of EZ. The other night I decided to cast on for the colour pattern practice hat in Knitting Workshop. And - despite drinking - I managed to finish it all in one night. It's with the leftover Nature Wool from the BSJ, and I love how it turned out.

Sigh. Nature Wool. It makes everything look better. I was running out of the green, though, so I did the top all speckled.

See how small, compared to my second slouch hat?

Oh, slouch hat, I love you. It's sticking out like that because of how I have my hair up, it's not wonky, I swear. It's made from a random old Noro yarn I found at a yarn store that was going out of business. I've since seen it once at Needles & Knits here in Aurora, but in navy. I wish it wasn't discontinued, I really love it.

And I bought this insane coffee when my sister and I were out. I can't find anything else about it online, except their fairly crappy website with only one flavour, when there were about five or six available when I bought it. I got hazelnut. I have a steaming mug in front of me right now, and fully expect to be able to accomplish a lot this afternoon once I finish it. I want to spin more rainbow yarn so I can get to spinning some turquoise and gray for a sweater from Spin to Knit, maybe play some Guitar Hero, clean my room a bit, clean my knitting and spinning area, because oh my god it's overrun.

Damn, this coffee smells good.

Wise words.

2007-07-30T13:06:00.000-04:00

"If you knit, you rip."

It usually takes a knitter a few years to realise this, to understand that progress is more likely if you rip back either completely or just a tad, and then get motoring again. It's hard to see all those stitches, all that work flying back into string but at the same time, it's gratifying to know it's going to be something better. We can rebuild it. We have the ~~technology~~ patience.

I'm at peace with ripping. I've ripped back a never-to-be-felted Manos purse and made a hat. I've ripped back a wrap and queued the yarn for EZ's double-knit baby blanket. I'm getting ready to rip back my Mystery Stole #3 due to some major mistakes a few rows back and a war with row 80-something. I may or may not start over. I usually lose steam on lace once I've ripped.

And finally, my Gryffindor house sweater. To be honest, I was never happy with the colours of red and gold I ordered from Knit Picks, but forged on. I wish I'd been thinking and got charcoal instead of silver for a new-style house sweater. So my plan with this is to rip and turn it into a sweater I might actually wear. Which might be the Faux Fair Isle sweater from Spin to Knit. I have one in the queue already, but I realised that the roving I was going to spin for the yoke would pill like hell, and the Nature Wool wants to be a wrap anyway.

I'm sure I can find something to match the silver. Or...I can go shopping on Etsy? No, that's not the right one.

OH the turquoise corriedale...with bits of silver corriedale to match the silver Wool of the Andes!

Yes!

Accio spindle!

I mean...let me get my spindle. Too much Harry Potter.

ETA: I was thinking about other things I might have to rip in the near future, and...my beloved but failing Kureyon cardigan might be on the chopping block. Do I finish the collar and see what it looks like, or just dive right in and frog it? Decisions.

Pro-ject roundup.

2007-07-24T20:22:00.001-04:00

This is what happens when LiveJournal goes down. After feverishly refreshing their status page, which was also down, I saw a little thing on CNBC that said Six-Apart, their parent company, went kablooey due to a power outage in San Fransisco this afternoon. Gaah. Refreshrefreshrefresh, noooo. So I blog here.

I had a mitered squares class yesterday morning, and that went well. Except that it was at 9:30, so it felt a bit like school. Why am I always the youngest person in the class too? It's sort of annoying to sit around while the other people are talking about their kids and their husbands. I want to raise my hand and be all I have six cats!! They're like kids! After showing off a square I did before class in my handspun, one of the women in the class smirked and said to the other, "She must not have kids if she can do all of this stuff." Maybe if they'd stopped talking about their kids for two seconds, they wouldn't have had to rip back their squares.

Just saying.

So here's the handspun squares! I've decided it's going to be a blanket. I got 100 yards out of a shockingly small quantity of roving, so I still have an almost totally full bag of it left.

It's a rainbow! It's a really, really soft rainbow. It'll make a cosy blanket.

And, as promised, Pi shawl.

Out of KnitPicks Alpaca Cloud. I'm 13 rows into the 288 part. Every row is taking forever. I see why EZ called it 'travel knitting.' The lace isn't complicated, so it would be perfect for a long layover in an airport, or waiting around a hotel room.

More fibre came! Merino/bamboo! I can't stop groping at it.

Seee. Pretty.

Jerkface.

2007-07-20T00:04:00.000-04:00

I'm the first to admit, I'm kind of a jerk. I don't do it on purpose most of the time, I just speak my mind and come off as abrasive. I'm fine with that, it's just how I am. Those who know me well know that's just a part of me, being a jerk. Sometimes I do mean it though. This, however, wasn't one of those times.

I've been taking classes at a certain LYS, and they added some more classes for summer on their website, so I went and checked them out. One was a Cat Bordhi-centric class, and that was fine. I was a bit worried about the description of the class though, which named Bordhi as the inventor of the Moebius strip. Er. I knew for a fact that wasn't true, but just marked it down to bad wording.

So, today, when I was visiting and one of the co-owners, the woman running this Bordhi-centric class, mentioned the Moebius, and actually said It's so brilliant, I don't know how she invented it! I felt a little twitch over my eye, and before I knew it, I had said something to the effect of Well, the first written pattern I know of is Elizabeth Zimmermann's from the 70s, but Bordhi has some nice patterns with it and I got that look. The look that says, Janis? You've said something jerky.

Of course, I wanted to say more. I wanted to launch into a tirade about it being based on a scientific theory thought up by a German scientist in the mid-19th century, but I didn't. I was good. But I know for a goddamned fact that Cat Bordhi didn't invent the Moebius. She didn't even invent the cast on she uses for it, but it is the first known time it's been written down and published.

I just kind of felt a need to make sure this woman would stop misinforming people via her class descriptions and her actual class. Sooo...then I found a webpage that has a time-line of the knit Moebius, and I emailed it to them. Of course, the problem with email is that you can't read my tone, which wasn't meant to be condescending, but might be seen as such by people who don't deal in online correspondence as much as I do.

Was it rude to correct her? I certainly could have started a big thing, but I almost feel like she's so into Cat Bordhi that she hasn't bothered to look elsewhere for the technique, and will end up creating all these other mindless zombies through her class.

Personally, I love when people correct me. It gives me a chance to learn new things, and I'm all about learning new things. I just hope I haven't blacklisted myself at that LYS forever. I kind of want a job there one day.

Next post, I promise pictures of my up-and-coming Pi shawl! I'm absolutely obsessed with EZ right now. She consumes me.

Nice warm tea.

2007-07-18T15:19:00.000-04:00

Summer isn't the optimal time for knitting things like, say, tea cosies, but I needed a new one, someone started a knit-along on Ravelry, and a few days later, I went from this:

To this:

It's my own design, which I can transcribe into human words if anyone wants it. The things I'm most proud of are the snug fit, the braided ribbing, and the picot bind off at the top. If I did it again, I'd space the braids that carried up the length of it, because they squish the diamonds at either side.

But I wanted the braids on the length to carry up from the ribbing at the bottom so bad. It's not terrible, but I could have messed around with it some more.

Yes, it's sweltering out and I'm still drinking tea. Weirdo.

Finished, finished.

2007-07-13T19:17:00.000-04:00

I'm finally at that part of starting a lot of things at once where I'm starting to finish all of those things. Slowly, but they're getting done. The supposedly ill-fated Noro cardigan is too huge to sit on my lap for long periods of time, so the collar might have to wait a while. The puff-sleeved cardigan from Fitted Knits is just waiting for that last ball of the right dye lot that I found through Ravelry (I'm saintraoul there, go friend me!) because Knit Picks didn't have any left, and Mesilla?

Done!

Done.

I hate the yarn, Mission Falls Cotton. I think I mentioned this once before, but it was so stiff and troublesome and I had an impossible time with gauge. It was fine when I started, but as I got used to the yarn and worked with it more, my fingers got lazy, so my ending gauge is looser. It still needs a proper steam-blocking. I do love the finished product though, the yarn, despite my misgivings, ends up very nice.

Modifications I knowingly made were with the picot edging and the contrast colours; I knew I wouldn't wear it if it had a picot edging. I'm just not a picot kind of girl. So I did two rows of reverse stockinette and then bound off in purl on the right side, like EZ always says. With the contrast colours, it was my own mistake. I didn't buy a third colour, but I bought too much of one of the others. I forget if I did this on purpose or not. Modifications I unknowingly made were with the neckline; I didn't pick up enough stitches along the sides so my decreases made for a tighter neckline. That's just fine though, I'm more likely to wear it if it shows off less chest.

The pattern was wonderful, like all of Stefanie's patterns. Well written and easy to follow. I saw some sniping about it on other blogs, mostly about the neckline instructions not having exact numbers, but I liked it that way; even when a pattern says "pick up and knit x number of stitches" I almost never find I have x number of stitches and this causes me a lot of headache. I'd much rather have instructions like "pick up one stitch for every cast on stitch across the row and two for every three rows across the front" or whatever. So, great pattern, I love it.

I made another slouch hat too, at OoTP. Theatre was packed, and I had the good fortune to sit next to a pack of fresh from high school fangirls. Now, please understand, I am the most flailing of all fangirls, about nearly everything I like. I was also super-excited about the movie! A lot! But don't spent ten minutes talking about how excited you are for the movie, and then spend the first five minutes of the actual movie talking about boyfriends. Or talking at all. And stop squealing whenever Ron is on screen, lest I start squealing every time Snape is visible (Oh Alan Rickman. You deserve more screen time). I swear, if I didn't have my hat to knit on, I would have gone insane and stabbed them.

And another thing, while I'm up on my soap-box. There was a woman in front of me with her very young boy. Probably four or five. Have you read the book? I was hardly surprised when he cowered in fear from basically the first minute on, and halfway through, ended up in her lap. Gee, who knew it was scary!

Everyone who read the book, ever.

Aaand I'm done.

Mysteriousness and sweat.

2007-07-11T05:27:00.000-04:00

Our air conditioning broke. I know there are plenty of people in the world without air conditioning. I know they live quite comfortably and well without, but I cannot. For two days, there was a fan blowing in the living room, and I barely slept. I couldn't sleep without my window open, but directly across the street is a school, a school that they're putting an addition on to! Yesterday, after the air conditioning was fixed, I managed a very strange 11am-8pm slumber. Hence the 6am blogging.

Of course, all that fan blowing meant I didn't get much done on the mystery stole, because the chart kept blowing away, but here's where I am.

Just finished chart A without a single error, and swelled with pride, I moved on to chart B. And I messed up one row big time. I tried to rip back, and I can never tink lace. So my stitch count was off. I forged on though, hoping it won't look too bad. It took two chart rows before my stitch count was back on target, but I am a little discouraged. Kitty, however, doesn't care.

Though she did join me on the table for the picture taking extravaganza. Unblocked lace, ironically, looks a lot like cat barf.

So, to combat that, I decided to make a cute little slouchy hat, specifically Le Slouch by Wendy Bernard. I started it thinking it would carry me through a 7pm screening of Order of the Phoenix later tonight, but, four hours after casting on...

I had myself a hat.

The cutest little hat I ever did make! I originally saw it in some dark purple Cotton Fleece I know I have somewhere, but I couldn't find it, so I opted for some Manos Del Uruguay I've had for at least three years. It was to be a felted purse, but I frogged it, having no use for a felted purse.

The pattern calls for 200 yards of a worsted weight, but I only had 135, so instead of knitting plain for six inches, I did five. I could have gone to six though. I have a not-so-tiny ball of yarn left that may or may not become some kind of embellishment. I also modified the decrease a bit for a typical beret point. The best part is that I can tuck all my hair up underneath, and it stays put!

I say all my hair, but I don't have a lot. I'm used to having much less, so when it gets to a certain length, specifically this one, just above my shoulders, I get annoyed and wear it up or in a cotton snood most of the time. I am trying to grow it out though. For reals. But I love my hat.

I love. my hat.

Showing off.

2007-07-04T17:09:00.000-04:00

Look!

Merino/Tencel, from Spinning Bunny's Spin Your Own Socks kit.

Anshan's Biscotti colourway, 2oz, 139 yards. Haven't done the WPI yet. I was up until 6am plying this the other night. It took three hours to ply, but previous to that, it took two hours to finish off the last of the fibre. So, that's five hours of twirling and whirling and let me tell you, when I went to bed that morning, I could still feel the spindle twirling and the fibre moving under my fingers. I had a good sleep though.

It's a great kit, it comes with two 2oz balls of roving, which is really one split lengthwise. You're supposed to spin them up separately (at 36 WPI, which I couldn't not consistently do on my spindle) and then ply those together so the colour changes match up. I'm not one for doing what I'm supposed to, so I spun up one 2oz ball, and then plied that unto itself. Some of the colour changes in that match up though! And I'm not heartbroken about not being able to keep to 36 WPIs either. I'm pleased.

The kit also comes with a sock pattern, and some nice bamboo DPNs. I can always use more of those.

And against my better judgment, I've decided to try my hand at the Mystery Stole #3 thing. I tried the first one, which seems like eons ago, and certainly is in terms of skill development, and barely got through the first clue without my brain exploding. Luckily, I still had the yarn left and it fits into the theme this year! Here's my swatch.

Which is actually the first lace I've knit and blocked, believe it or not. I have a shocking amount of lace weight yarn and haven't ever really seriously tried a lace project. What better than a mystery project! I won't have a full pattern to psych myself out with.

Now, to spin something pretty to combat the dreary weather.

Surprise!

2007-06-27T17:11:00.001-04:00

What is it? I wasn't sure myself for a while.

A pile of knitting with angles and corners and spaces for buttons. But I trust you, Elizabeth Zimmermann. You've weathered me through some hard times.

A-HAH! I see how it works! It is a jacket after all.

Such a cute little jacket, it makes my ovaries twitch with emptiness. The boyfriend's boss just had a baby girl though, and he suggested I give it to her, along with the Daisy. I'll give her the Daisy for sure, but I think there's powerful mojo in my first BSJ. I'm probably going to keep it until a) my sister has a baby (or babies, we've had an inkling that she's going to have twins for years, and then a psychic told her so last year.) or b) I have/acquire a baby.

I love the earthy colours, and it's just crying out for wooden buttons. I don't think I can part with it just yet. I used some Nature Wool I've had laying around forever and fell in love with the yarn all over again. So much so, that I've recently...acquired five hanks of it. 1200 yards of earthy, tonally variegated goodness, just waiting for me to make it into something.

Oh, but what? I will pet it further and decide.

I am not pregnant.

2007-06-21T18:45:00.001-04:00

I don't know anyone who's pregnant (not in person at least, but I am living vicariously through Stefanie Japel on the matter). My boyfriend and I have no intentions of becoming pregnant or otherwise acquiring a baby for a while, and even then it's going to be a lot of work for about a billion reasons, both physically and mentally.

So why, then, have I recently (almost) finished a Daisy, and started a Baby Surprise Jacket? In addition, I've recently added the Hoover Blanket to my Ravelry queue, and am eying baby and toddler related patterns left and right.

Is my biological clock manifesting itself in my knitting? Probably. Here's Daisy.

I love the Baby Surprise Jacket though! It was a little tough getting used to the stitch marker business at first, but like most EZ patterns, once you figure out what you're doing it's smooth sailing. I think. So far, at least. I'm not terribly far yet, because it's only relaxing-before-bed knitting. I'm using some Nature Wool I've had laying around for a while, which has rekindled my love of said yarn.

Aaand some odds and ends. The Puff-Sleeved Cardigan from Fitted Knits is almost done. I'm on the lace part of the peplum (don't worry, I'd never heard that word before either.)

And I only have about half a ball of yarn left. Half a ball of yarn left for finishing the sleeves and doing the button bands? I'm nervous. I've already determined I need less decreases on the sleeves because they fit me pretty okay the way they are, so that saves yarn. But I dread having to see if Knit Picks still has my dye lot, what with the huge sale over the last few weeks.

Aaand my first fibre from Flawful Fibers & Yarns came today. Oh my god. It's beautiful.

That's superwash merino and...my first silk! I'm constantly in the bag grabbing at it.

Mmm. I was a little wary of my decision not to buy fibre anymore this year, but I'm totally fine with it, seeing the glorious colours and the prettiness and soft and SILK. SILK!!

Silk. More groping now.

Oow.

2007-06-17T22:16:00.000-04:00

This is my first real knitting pain, besides all those sore fingertips when I was a tender-skinned youngster making a never-ending ecru scarf. I finished the socks for my dad this afternoon and wove in the ends with a few minutes to go. He liked them, but he really didn't have any choice. Even more important, they fit, thank goodness. I don't have any pictures. My sister was literally waiting at the door for me to finish with the ends, so. You'll have to imagine two big striped socks in a fairly shitty yarn that I was just glad to get out of the house.

And my wrist was fine! It was basically three days of off-and-on knitting, and then I got cocky. This, as we know, is bad. Before I knew it, it was Saturday and I had to start and finish a sock by Sunday morning. Oh dear. But I did it. It was hard, I was tired, I took a break to celebrate my sister coming back from a six-month job on a cruise ship, and then back to the sock. It finished, Janis was happy, the world was smiling and shiny.

Then I went to my uncle's for additional Father's Day/Grandfather's Birthday celebrations. I knit a little more, on my Baby Surprise Jacket this time, I helped my fourteen-year old cousin tune his guitar, I played said guitar for a bit to show him that, yes, I know like, six chords and you can definitely learn more than I can (I prefer Guitar Hero to real live guitar these days anyway). And my right wrist started killing me! Out of nowhere!

So my first marathon gift knitting results in my first real knitting pain. One day, I'll remember this. And never make socks out of a shitty acrylic/cotton blend again.

That...strange feeling.

2007-06-10T18:50:00.000-04:00

Father's Day is coming up, and I've been puzzling out what to buy mine for the last week. Then I decided I'd just make him socks with whatever worsted weight yarn I found that seemed suitable. The choice of Bernat Denim Style might give you a clue as to how I feel about my dad in general.

Ill feelings aside, it's generally not a good idea when the leg of the sock would fit on my arm loosely, is it? I'm having a bit of a Holly Golightly moment where I think I may be knitting a ranch house. I don't know how big men's socks are. My father moved out when I was 2, so I've never been around men's socks. I have really big feet, and I seem to recall my dad saying he had small feet for a dude (might explain why he has a big screen tv, a giant stereo system, a hot tub on the deck, and years of infidelity under his belt) so maybe if they fit me, they'll fit him?

AHH! It's a mountain of sock. That's sort of how I see this now. A big scary mountain.

See, here it is with a CD for comparison. Too big? Too small? Am I knitting a ranch house?

It's entirely possible.

Everyday is for spinning!

2007-06-03T17:56:00.000-04:00

At least, lately. I've been spinning more than I've been knitting, to be honest. I'm not sure why. My first batch of the Merino Sliver from Fleece Artist was...well. This.

Yeah. Merino confounded me. I couldn't figure out how to predraft to get a nice, nonslubby yarn. There were so many poofy parts. Great for a pretty art yarn, but I'm in a usable phase. So I read a lot about predrafting, and figured it out.

I stopped just breaking it up by pulling it up and down, I started taking strips off, too. I'm sure anyone who's been spinning longer than me will say, well, YEAH. But anyway. Behold!

That is 13 WPIs, a little more than I wanted, but still totally great. The colours don't show up very well when you're not looking at it in person. It's the Fleece Artist Wildflowers colourway, which is cream, powder blue, seafoam, baby pink, and buttery yellow. Wildflowers is the perfect name for it. I haven't measured yardage yet, because I don't really have a good way of doing it.

Closeup. I'm absolutely amazed how far my spinning has come in just a month. I'm actually taking the time to learn how to do things instead of assuming I'm doing it right. I predraft more, I hold my drafting hand differently now, and I have way more control.

In short? I fucking love spinning. That expletive was necessary to convey my love and joy. Believe me.

Of Falling Off the Wagon.

2007-05-31T16:24:00.000-04:00

Yarn purge, even the subtitle of the blog tells you that. It's fairly easy not to buy yarn when you don't have a (paying) job and are (supposed to be) busy with university work, and also, have a basement full of yarn. But then, Mastercard saw fit to increase my credit limit, and some very bad things happened all in a row, and...well.

First I bought a book, and I said I'd buy enough yarn to make one project from the book. Book came, and I couldn't decide what I wanted to make. I spent days looking online, I went to a real brick-and-mortar store and I couldn't find anything within reason.

While this was going on, I spied the Get To Know Hemp kit and Fair Isle pillow kit over at KPixie. I thought to myself, yeah, I'd like to get to know hemp! and thought I could make the pillow for Mother's Day! Perfect! Well, except that I ordered it the day before Mother's Day, because I thought it was the next weekend. And who am I kidding, by time it shipped, I would have had one day to knit a Fair Isle pillow. Oops. I didn't start it until the other day, anyway. Not very far.

Three inches of stocking stitch. Oy. The AllHemp6 feels REALLY nice and silky though, compared to the AllHemp6 from the other kit. It's weird.

And then, Fitted Knits-wise, I decided on the Puff-Sleeved Feminine Cardigan, mostly because I love KnitPicks fabulous yarn with even more fabulous prices. I mean, come on, $18 for a cardigan in MERINO? In a plus-size? Hells yes. Give it to me.

But that's where I had my major falling down. Instead of just checking out after that, I got to looking around. Is Crayon REALLY only $1.99 a ball? That's an awesome price, I could make that thing I've been thinking of designing. So I ended up with 12 balls of Crayon.

And then I remembered their Options needle set, and how many times I've wanted it. Well, into the cart it goes. Then a nice big box came.

Mmm. Crayon, Merino Style, Options needles. The needles are glorious, I wish I had have ordered them when they first came out. So smooth and the CORD OH MY GOD THAT CORD. Perfect. I immediately whipped out the merino, the 4.0mms, and - shock - got gauge! So I started the cardigan that night.

And it progressed really, really well. But then, 33 rows of raglan increases, which is 66 rows altogether. I'm sort of waning on it. I'm on 19/33, and it just keeps getting bigger and bigger and bigger and taking longer and longer. But, the yarn and the needles are a joy to work with. It's hardly pulling teeth.

And there may have been some fibre-related falling down too, in a sock-spinning kit and a year-long monthly fibre subscription. But here, have a better picture of the alpaca handspun from last week. I'm calling it Pebble Beach, in honour of...well, it's what the Washington reporters call the part of the White House lawn where they do their stand-ups. I'm sort of a huge cable news nerd.

I'm also going to the newest yarn store in town to sign up for a sock heels class tonight, and maybe a short rows/self-striping yarn class too. They...well, they have Fleece Artist fibre for like, six dollars or so. I might sort of...buy some.

Like Kay said, every year is a bad year for a yarn purge.

Tuesdays are for spinning!

2007-05-24T16:34:00.000-04:00

But also Wednesdays. Thursdays are for admiring my large, usable hank of two-ply, tri-colour alpaca. And trying to convince those around me that I deserve a spinning wheel after such hard spindling.

Here's the progression, in case you missed a step, from a bag of coveted fibre, to a hank of even-more-coveted yarn.

First it was a bag of alpaca fibre from Green Acres Alpaca Farm. I loved it. I spent a lot of time just fondling it and trying to imagine what it would look like as yarn. I practised on other alpaca because I didn't want to screw up. And then I picked up the spindle, and the fabled alpaca fibre.

And I spun and I spun and I spun for about two weeks, on and off, with an extended break due to searing arm and neck pain. And then on Tuesday, with the better part of the bag left, I decided to finish it. I really didn't realise I had that much of it until it came time to ply. My hand was weighted down with my stylish Andean bracelet, and plying took about half an hour. And then! Then!!

It's my first real-sized hank of handspun. Totally usable, totally soft, the colours look so nice and almost...pebbled together. I haven't measured it yet, and I have a bad eye for estimating these things. I haven't done the WPI thing yet either.

I'm very proud. See why I deserve a spinning wheel? My next spinning goal is a two-ply sock yarn with enough to actually make socks.

Tomorrow is the Canadian launch of Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's book and I am totally going to be there. I'm a tad/totally nervous because I don't actually know anyone else who's going and I'm not very adept at making friends on my own, but we all know how nice knitter's are. I'm sure I'll find someone to take me under their wing. Drinks after at the Spotted Dick, but not too many because the last bus back to Aurora leaves at, gasp, midnight! Insane! It used to be 1-1:30am from what I remember.

I'm not sure about the yarn crawl the next day. I'd love to but I've had a little falling down recently with the credit card that will be addressed soon. And the weather is hot. I'm all Blanche DuBois when it comes to the heat. But we'll see! I do love finding new and exciting yarn stores, even if I do wilt.

Conspiracy!

2007-05-18T16:36:00.000-04:00

Ever get the feeling that the whole damn knitting world is conspiring against you? In perfect timing with having more money to spend, I find I want to make everything in Fitted Knits. And then, the summer Interweave Knits comes today, and what do I see? Everything is effing beautiful.

The inside-out charm of the 1824 Blouson, the Sleeveless Tuxedo Shirt that I could wear over button downs, the cosy Notre Dame de Grace Pullover, the bra-strap allowance of the Lutea Lace-Shoulder Shell, the mad-scientist squares in Luvtroja Mans, the gorgeous Fair Isle of the Syncopated Caps, an excuse to finally buy Handmaiden Sea Silk in the Montego Bay Scarf, the Spiral Boot Socks that will never fit my calves, and although I'm not a practicing Jew anymore, I instantly pictured my wedding under the Lace Chuppah.(Maybe if I start knitting it now, I can have it finished in time to convince Alex that marriage isn't a sham for fools!)

Phew. This is a bad year for a yarn purge.

But I think I've figured it out. My yarn input has to equal my project output. I'm doing good so far. I got that Cotton Fleece in the swap, and started on the Cherry Bomb tank right away. Almost finished, by the way, just the neck and armhole borders. I got my Mission Falls 1824 Cotton for Mesilla and I swatched right away, cast on later that night. That was...Monday.

Today?

That's really only two days of knitting. I woke up on Wednesday with searing neck pain that went all down into my right arm. But I digress. I couldn't figure out how the hell this supposed yoke became an actual shirt until late last night when I started casting on for the neckline. Then I got it.

Here's the contrast colours.

I got two colours instead of three, and I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do about it yet. I'll figure it out though.

A note about the yarn though? It's wearing my hands out. I've always seen Mission Falls as some kind of magic fabled yarn that would just fly under my fingers and make the world look like a better place as I knit with it, but. It's not. If I didn't love the final product so much, I would probably have tucked this yarn away and never used it again. And of course, my favourite pattern from the new Interweave Knits uses it. Oy. Of course.

Like I said, conspiracy.

No more text.

2007-05-11T18:29:00.000-04:00

I know, no one cares about text, we all want pictures!

I've been knitting a few things on and off, but can't really commit myself to one project. Sometimes I get a rabid case of tunnel vision and can't put a certain project down until it's finished, but, I'm not really in that state of mind.

Here's a Tofutsies sock!

It's using their Mountain Peaks pattern, which is really easy. I went really good for a few days, and then crapped out. I'm currently still crapped out.

Here's the Big Yellow Thing.

It's a top down raglan t-shirt in a DK-labelled but more sport weight cotton/acrylic that I've had for an embarrassingly long time. It's the current watching TV project because it's easy and requires little to no thought at this point. I'm doing decorative yarn-over increases and it's taking forever.

Here's the Tiger Tail alpaca from a few entries back.

I don't have much to say about it except I love it a lot, and can't wait to ply it and make it into something special.

And here's some Artyarns Supermerino...

...that was chewed up by this now-famous dog. That's the delightful Jersey, dog to my equally delightful Alex. The first time I visited Alex (who lives in New Jersey), Jersey saw fit to gnaw my ten year old limited edition Converse low-tops. They were flannel plaid. I loved them well, but alas, Jersey told me it was time to move on. I wasn't mad at her. Later, she deposited a toy on my lap, which no dog had ever done. So I figured it was love.

I made Alex take me to a yarn store later in the trip, and apart from the snobbiest salespeople I've ever been privy to, it was a great store. I got my first Koigu, my first Trekking XXL, some of the pictured Supermerino in the blue, and some in pink. They wrapped it in tissue and put it in a cute little gift bag. Back at Alex's, I deposited it on the floor and we cuddled up for some Deadliest Catch. I didn't notice anything, but Alex did. Jersey had something.

And it was that yarn. She chewed it.

The funny thing is, I wasn't even mad. Alex was mad, but I wasn't. You've seen the picture. She's beautiful, and she's quirky, and she's often maddening, but also a fantastic dog. And I know one day she'll be so surrounded by yarn that it won't even be an issue for her, like with my cats.

Besides, Jersey is famous now! I can't be mad when she's famous.

ETA: Jersey made it on the site again. We have an exhaustive amount of these pictures, let me tell you.

Firmly planted in love.

2007-05-08T10:36:00.000-04:00

I finally broke down and ordered Fitted Knits by Stefanie Japel. I was going to wait until I saw it in a store somewhere, for Mastercard reasons, but with an inexplicable limit increase, the world is mine!

And let me tell you, there is only one pattern in that book that I don't want to make. 1/25? Amazing odds, seeing as I'm picky, and on the heavy side (read: fatty) but with patterns that go up to 56 inches chestwise in some cases, I have my pick of the litter. I promised myself that when the book came, I would buy yarn for one project, and now I can't decide. Really. I just keep sitting there, staring at all the patterns, looking things up online, making calculations, adding things to shopping carts, taking them out.

I also love the fact that I don't just have to skim to the last set of numbers to see what is usually my size. I loved that with Big Girl Knits too.

I think what I have to do is take my book, and march on down to a brick and mortar store. Aaand the only one within walking distance happens to be my favourite anyway, Needles & Knits. It's probably the only place where I haven't had anyone condescendingly ask And what is this going to be? and then bid me good luck with that little gleam of amusement in their eyes.

Which reminds me of a Lewiscraft story. I was knitting a hat, just your average 2x2 rib worsted weight hat on DPNs, and a woman actually said to me, just by looking at it, and then me, Oh your first hat! How intrepid! and I felt that familiar twitch in my eye that became synonymous with early twenties knitter knitting in public, or visiting a yarn store.

I was once told at a yarn store in New Jersey that it was wise as a beginner to only use sock yarn for socks, and what I had in my hands was not sock yarn. I resisted the urge to punch the woman out while screaming I'M IN CHARGE OF ORDERING YARN AT A MAJOR RETAIL STORE, YOU TWIT.

Anyway. The next few days see me buying yarn for something, I just don't know what yet. I have 24 options!

Spin, spin.

2007-05-01T10:58:00.000-04:00

I beat the alpaca!

I was having major issues spinning this at first, let me tell you. I was overspinning, I wasn't spinning enough and it was sliding apart, and I got angry and put it away for a week. I picked it up again earlier, and lo and behold, I won. And then I spun the whole bag. And then I plied it.

And now I'm going to start on the black.

I. Win.

The Buying of the Things.

2007-04-23T17:35:00.000-04:00

Okay, okay, yarn purge, I know. But, CSNF was this weekend, and I've been very good for four months. So I made a list, and a budget, and I stuck to both. Except for seven back issues of Spin-Off, but they were only $2.50 each, come on! I had to.

I finally found some Tofutsies sock yarn, and ordered some Mission Falls 1824 cotton, both from Rose Haven Farm Store. They were supernice, and have the best price on the cotton I've ever beheld, $5.20 a ball. I have enough for a t-shirt coming to me soon.

But, the greatest place of all was only two or three booths away from Rose Haven, Green Acres Alpaca Farm. They had a woman spinning at a cute little Ashford wheel, premade alpaca garments, thrum mittens, yarn, and - oh my god - big big bags of alpaca fibre, just sitting there. I didn't know what to do! The colours! Fawn, cream, black, grey, and - dear sweet baby Jesus - a mix called Tiger Tail.

Isn't that the most gorgeous thing you've ever seen? I got some black and fawn too, but that's the money colour. I can't wait to start spinning with it.

Buuut, I had to get the merino off the spindle first, so I plied it.

My second try at Andean plying, and it turned out really well and balanced, I don't even have to set it! I'm very pleased.

I'm going to try a practice run with the fawn coloured alpaca before I dive into the Tiger Tail. It's slippery and light and gorgeous and soft as a cloud and I'm kind of in love with it. Ahem.

I killed it dead.

2007-04-15T00:22:00.000-04:00

The hot pink Koigu socks? The Cuff That Would Not Die? It's dead now. You might recall a mishap with cats chewing the needles? Well, some stitches ran after that, and did not want to be laddered back up nicely, no matter how hard I tried. And I tried hard, believe me. I tried to save the last two inches of cuff, but they didn't want saving. No, they said, don't pick us up. We're more trouble than it's worth.

So now, the hot pink Koigu sits in a ball, needles shoved unceremoniously through, and waits for a time when it will be something loved and useful and beautiful and hot pink. Another pair of socks, probably, just plain, nothing fancy.

Though I am toying with the idea of going to the newest yarn store in town, due to their massive selection of Koigu, and picking some matching solid colours for a delicious Koigu hot pink and friends argyle. But then I remind myself, YARN PURGE, and it's not to be.

Not yet at least. Not yet.

Tank Top WIP.

2007-04-09T01:20:00.000-04:00

Cherry Bomb tank top!

That's the front, the back is nearly finished, I predict a sewing up tomorrow. The pattern calls for a garter stitch border, picked up later, along the neck edge and armholes, but I'm just opting for some crochet edging because the thought of picking up all those stitches leaves me a little queasy.

And no tabletop WIP pic would be complete without Chewie.

Yarn Purge, intact!

2007-03-27T17:28:00.000-04:00

Despite a trip to the yarn store today, my yarn purge remains intact! I went with my grandmother, and she kindly bought me some Fleece Artist fibre!

So pretty, I've never spun with merino before! I also found out that my grandmother has a spinning wheel that used to belong to her grandmother. Hopefully it'll be mine one day, if it still works.

Lately, I've been spinning some Coopworth for an afghan. It's just a giant puff of chocolate right now.

But I'm close to being able to ply it. I've never plied before so it kind of terrifies me, but I'll give it a try. I have some black, white, and...I forget the forth colour. It might be a salt-and-pepper. It's really easy to work with though, I love it.

And finally, this yarn was begot in a swap with Claudia. Cotton Fleece is my absolute favourite yarn. It arrived yesterday afternoon and last night I swatched and cast on for the Cherry Bomb cardigan in Big Girl Knits.

I totally forgot how much I loved Cotton Fleece until I opened that envelope. Mmm. I want more. I want all the Cotton Fleece in the world!

I might start swapping more too, seeing how happy this has made me. I've been in a huuuge funk lately and seeing that prettiness just made me glow. I don't want to think that my happiness is based almost entirely on material things, buuut. It just might be.

Progress!

2007-03-08T13:14:00.000-05:00

The sock! I'm working on the gusset now, it looks like some weird dissected carcass.

And fresh off the spindle!

To fresh out of the sink, my crack yarn setting device included.

I still have two mostly full bags of the fibre left too, this is going to be a lot of yarn. I first started kind of combining strips of the colours together, but that wasn't really working so I opted to make it more striped instead of twirly. Easy the most even I've ever spun, I'm very pleased with it so far.

Hells yes.

2007-03-03T06:30:00.000-05:00

Back in the fall, I decided to start a pair of argyle socks for my boyfriend. It can't be that hard, I thought. I had a pattern, I had yarn, and somehow, over the course of doing the ribbing, I talked myself into thinking this was the hardest thing in the world. It was crazy, all these bobbins hanging down, all this pattern, this chart, this was insane. So, I finished the first pattern row, cried a little, and put the sock away.

Well, last night in a fit of inspiration, I was looking for some yarn in the basement when I came across the knitting bag with the argyle in it. I looked at it, sitting there all sad with the pattern, and snatched it up. I will try you again, I said. That was just over 24 hours ago.

This is now.

And this is the back.

I am having the most fun knitting these that I've ever had knitting anything. The intarsia is pure common sense, you're either moving one colour one stitch forward or one stitch back. They're worked back and forth until you're finished the pattern rows. I'm at the point where I have to divide for the instep. It reminds me of those satisfying math problems where you had to solve for x.

Of course, that's what all knitting is, solving for x. But in most cases, x is the final product and...ah, I don't know, it's hard to explain how my mind works, but rest assured, I've never finished an entire leg of a sock in slightly over a day.

X has never been so much fun.

Tea Dyeing!

2007-02-20T16:36:00.000-05:00

So, here's the story. I can't buy yarn this year, so what happens when I wantwant*WANT* a certain colour? Well, I decided to dye up some Knitpicks fingering weight and try to get my colour, which is in this case, a rich orange-bronze sort of thing.

I tried using part orange Kool-Aid, part Crystal Lite, and the iced tea didn't take at ALL. So I was left with this.

Pretty, but not what I wanted.

Then I decided to overdye the peach with tea! Lots of tea.

Ten bags of tea. Three of a really horrible Chai tea that I wasn't drinking, because I love Chai tea and this was just not Chai, and seven of regular old Red Rose. So much tea.

And then in goes the yarn!

Simmer for ten minutes, turn heat off, squish with potato masher, leave for...a while, and begin process all over. Here's two.

And the finished three in various poses, with disinterested, yawny cat!

That's Chewie.

So this yarn will be a sweater for the Knitters of Avalon KAL, along with a hank I dyed some time ago in a sort of fireworks colourway, for the collar and some bands around the sleeves, if I do sleeves. Not sure yet.

I'm not starting a thing until I finish the back of the House sweater though, I can tell you that much. I am being good, see? Good.

ADD.

2007-02-16T16:17:00.000-05:00

Major project ADD lately. The socks and the wrap have fallen to the wayside as I decided on the mindless miles of stockinette that is my Gryffindor house sweater of Harry Potter fame. The front is nearly finished, I'm on the armhole shaping, and it's so nice to just truck away in front of the tv without having to look down every few seconds and make sure everything is on track.

I also joined the Knitters of Avalon knit along so I have to figure out what to knit for that. I'll take a dive into the stash later and see what I have.

Nope, I have not yet yielded to temptation and purchased any yarn at all. I'm intensely proud of myself, but also, I've made up for the no yarn in books and DVDs, which is bad. So I clearly have to wean myself off of buying things period.

Now, sweater!

Those Darn Cats.

2007-02-10T18:26:00.000-05:00

I have six cats. Prior to having the last two, I could generally leave knitting around and no one cared. I suspect this is because I had an alarming amount of stuff sitting around the house, and they sort of didn't care. Forest for the trees kind of thing.

But since we got Kitty and Scout, both wee things of six months, I can't leave a goddamned thing out. The Sock That Would Not Die? I mistakenly left it out on the couch when I went to bed, and woke up to find ALL of the ends of ALL of the needles chewed to hell. Now, usually, they just carry the project around, unwind the ball of yarn, and then sit on it. Nope. This time, one, or more because I think they gang up, of them destroyed brand new wooden DPNs.

So, I looked for sandpaper, couldn't find it, and then put the project away on top of the microwave. I didn't want to deal with it right then.

I got up this morning, and my mom had sanded the needles for me! Which is good because I'm bad at real life things like sanding, cutting, nailing. Except, in the process, she also dropped ... well, a lot of stitches off the end of one needle. And I fixed it. But now it looks like crap. So, I have to ladder them down again and try and pick them up, again, in an orderly fashion.

This sock? Does not want to get made.

The Cuff That Would Not Die.

2007-02-07T17:03:00.000-05:00

Four inches of 2x2 ribbed cuff, the pattern urges me.

Why? WHY?! Who needs four inches of ribbing to keep their socks up? I am about an inch away from it, and I've hit the void.

The real rub is that the whole sock is ribbed. The rest of the leg, the foot, everything. Granted, it's a different rib, but I feel like I'm going insane. This is the project that counterbalances the lace wrap?

This was a bad choice.

It's some Koigu KPM, in case you were wondering. I can't EVER find it here in Ontario, ironically. My precious six skeins were bought in New Jersey and New York, oddly enough. I have some variegated blue and white too, that was also destined to be a four inch cuff sock of a different pattern, until all of the needles got knocked off in my purse. I was so distraught about the loss of rows, I put it aside and didn't even look at the thing for months. It's back in a ball now, waiting for something special to come along.

I've also been bad. I spent at least two hours last night looking at yarn I wanted to buy. Mostly stuff from Earth Faire, but also the Shetland Jumper weight over atSchoolhouse Press because I have the pattern for the Baby Surprise Jacket and nothing nice to make it with. And I only need four balls! And it's cheap!

And no, because the yarn being cheap isn't the point of this yarn fast. The point is, I don't need four more balls of yarn, and I'm sure if I look in the scary stash corner of the basement, I can find something to use.

That, is the point.

Already!

2007-02-02T15:27:00.000-05:00

Remember the mittens I spoke of yesterday?

I finished them a little faster than I expected. Oops. They were going to be the yin to my yang, the boring project to my lace project! Now what? I don't know.

God help me, I don't know.

Cozy!

2007-02-01T16:25:00.000-05:00

We decided that with the IBK Dolan in Galenas Merino, a shorter version of Cozy would be ideal. And here she is, about four repeats in.

It's a fun, easy pattern, and I don't think I'll get sick of it for a while. It's such a soft yarn that I had to make it into something that would wrap around me. I did have to rip back one row because I was cocky, and the Knitting Gods, they punish, but otherwise it's a smooth ride so far.

I think I'll finish a mitten from a few years ago during TV-paying attention time though. While the lace isn't complicated, and I am a seasoned multitasker, I tend to be a maven of concentration during such involved shows as 'The Office' or 'My Name is Earl' and I'd rather not have to rip back another row because I missed a yarn over, consistently, on every repeat.

Ta-dah.

Yes, well.

2007-01-31T15:51:00.000-05:00

In the interest of something, my knitting blog will be here now, because of...computers and my server going kablooey, and this being easier anyway.

Since I last blogged, I decided to do the Knit from the Stash business that other bloggers are, but mine is a little more strict. No yarn*, no spinning fiber, patterns, books and notions are fine, but no fancy needles as well.

So today, the last yarn of the year arrived. I ordered it at the end of December, and it's dyed to order (does that make sense?) so it didn't come until today, when I think I also did.

Irish Baby Knits Dolan, in Galenas Merino, as pictured. Three balls, 660 yards, the softest stuff in the world. If I ever do end up with a baby to knit for, I know right where to do. So this afternoon will be figuring out what to do with it.

And I have a fancy new digital camera, so pictures pictures pictures to come!

*No yarn, unless an emergency arises, such as last week. I was knitting a cardigan while visiting the boyfriend in New Jersey, and ran out of yarn, but needed the cardigan to be finished for an event. So I HAD to buy yarn. It was only two balls of Patons Classic, I didn't go crazy. I did finish the cardigan, but it needs serious shaping work, because I got impatient. I don't see any more such emergencies arising in the future, however.

Yupdate.

2005-06-13T22:51:00.000-04:00

One of the sleeves for Lite Brite is done.

The other is in the works. Here's my Lamb's Pride and the rest of the Kureyon.

The pattern said six balls for the sleeves, but I finished the first one with one and 2/3 of a ball. So, I'm going to have some left over. Yerrr.

The stole: I have four extra stitches. Not easily fixable, given the rest of the pattern that came out last Friday. So, I'm going to rip it, and start over again. It didn't take me very long to get where I was anyway, so I should be okay. A little peeved. I figured if anything, I'd have less stitches. Meh.

Also this:

Knit with hemp that my sister uses for bracelets, and some beads and shells and crap I found. It's really light and easy to wear. I might make more and try to market them or something.

Ah, what else? The yarn diet marches on, successfully. Michael's has Homespun on sale this week, and God, I do love it. But no. I am being GOOD. Good.

See? Good.

Nothing is free.

2005-06-06T23:01:00.000-04:00

Fifteen dollars of duty for the Lamb's Pride worsted. It's a lot more purple than I thought it would be. But it's really nice. And they sent me a free tote bag too! Instant project bag! Wonderful. Tomorrow the Kureyon gets here, and I hope it matches. Or at least mismatches nicely.

The stole. I wound the laceweight into a ball. Well, almost all of it. Okay, one hank. Okay, 3/4s of one. I got fed up and it got tangled pretty bad. And I'm half done the first set of instructions. It looks gorgeous.

The sweater, I joined the sleeves to the body. So, all in all, making some good headway on everything. About an inch more on the sock until I start doing the decreasing for the toe.

Pictures of things tomorrow after I get my Kureyon. Mostly just me rolling around naked in a pile of wool. You know you want it.

Did it come, or did I?

2005-06-02T15:13:00.000-04:00

Yarn today, the laceweight from handpaintedyarn.com. It's so gorgeous. It's less blue than what their pictures showed, but damned if it didn't show up as blue when I took pictures of it.

It's a lot more grey, really, but maybe my eyes are bad. Who knows. In any case, the first clue comes tomorrow, I have to wind it into balls and swatch it before then.

So, uh. The sock is on hold for a while. I'm already breaking my own rules, but at least I haven't bought more yarn. That's the important thing.

UFOs.

2005-06-01T15:02:00.000-04:00

As promised the other day.

The sock, and yes, I do really have to make everything into a puppet:

And Tempting, so close, yet so far:

None of my yarn orders have come in yet, prompting sadface all around. Though my laceweight shipped yesterday, and I think the Noro shipped on Friday. I hope I get it soon. For yarn pr0n.

Yarn Diet Begins.

2005-05-30T22:52:00.000-04:00

I spent $100 on yarn last weekend. For no reason, really, other than depression and annoyance. Curiousity too. And so, June begins my first yarn diet.

No yarn until July. No matter what's on sale where, or what looks pretty, or what new projects I get inspired to do. No more yarn.

No more starting projects until I finish the two that have been on my plate for far too long: a pair of socks out of Elann.com's Esprit (originally for Mother's day) and Knitty's Tempting, out of Debbie Bliss Merino Aran in fuschia 602 (originally for my birthday, January 20th).

Pictures tomorrow of both projects. The first sock is nearly done, but doesn't look too good. The sweater, I'm on the second sleeve and almost ready to join them both to the yoke and whathaveyou. I want to finish the socks first, but I'll take it as it comes.

Coming in the mail soon is 4 skeins of Lamb's Pride Worsted in Amethyst and six of Noro Kureyon, both for Lite Brite. Aaaand some laceweight yarn from Handpaintedyarn.com in Paris Night for the Mystery Stole Dealie.

Pictures when that all comes.

And that's why I'm on a yarn diet/deadline this month. It also helps when I have minimal shifts this month, and therefore, lots of time, and little money.

Ta, until tomorrow. God, I hope some yarn comes.