Monday, October 23, 2006

This one was like work!

A new FO! Go check it out!

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

Feeling lucky punk?

Ummm, not so much.

Do you ever find yourself knitting s-l-o-w-e-r toward the end of a project, like when you're not sure you'll have enough yarn to finish? Uh yeah, that's where I'm at. It occurred to me sometime yesterday afternoon that the skein of Silk Garden I'm making Fetching out of was not a full skein. I remembered that in order to complete a hat for SO, I had to dip into the second skein I bought for such emergencies. {Sigh} I'm at the thumb and I have 14 more rows to complete and not a lot of yarn left. See? (the colors are terrible cuz I was discreetly photographing this in my trunk at work).
The upper left corner has a darker blue scrap yarn which indicates the start of the thumb. Here is the remainder of the skein: (again the colors are totally off)
And this is a scrap left from SO's hat and some
random piece that came out of the working skein:
Cutting it kinda close huh? Now I have another color of Silk Garden that will probably work, and I have some leftover Zara from SO's socks that I was thinking of tipping the thumb and upper hand part with, but still. Can't it ever be simple?

In happier news I did actually find a pair of bamboo circs at Joann the other day to try out on my mom's shawl. I will probably rough them up a bit with some sand paper, and I might even make the tip pointier, for ease of M1 making. I'll let you know how they work. If that doesn't work I was seriously considering layering the Denise needle with a thin coat of Elmer's glue (did you ever use to make glue gloves in school? I wasted HOURS at school on that in eighth grade. Spread it on, let it dry, peel it off. Rinse wash repeat. Ah, those were the days.) and let it dry. I'm assuming it will feel a little tacky which will aid in gripping the yarn from hell ....errr Karabella Magic.

I have a class tonight and if I'm up to it my weekly meetup with the girls. I'm battling a tiny cold and I'm hoping to sweat it out tonight. Have a good one!

Monday, October 16, 2006

Can you believe the Tigers?

They are kicking some serious baseball butt! I'm not a big fan, but I have to tip my hat to them. I'd much rather play it than watch it on tv, but it's very exciting that they're doing so well.

Luckily for them and ME we had a nice weekend weather-wise since I had two soccer games to go to. We won both of them, and I got a little knitting it during the warm ups. Here's what I did.

One Fetching down and one more to go. I'm using Noro Silk Garden, cuz I love how it knits into hats. I don't think the colors are going to match for the second one, but I'm trying to make it work at least a little. I saved the small portion of purple in the skein for the thumbs, so at least they'll match. I haven't decided if I like the picot bind off yet, and when I get farther along on the second one I may actually go back and lengthen the first one and just do a sewn bind off instead with no bumpy picots. I'll know more when I make sure I have enough yarn and how the colors are working. That's the second sleeve for SO's sweater, I finally cast it on. It goes pretty fast once I get it on the needles. And it's almost big enough to do away with the magic loop and just knit round and round. I discovered that Denise cables don't like the colder weather, so I struggled a bit with that while out for the soccer games. I didn't want to put too much pressure on them, so I was extra careful. There's nothing worse than snapping a cable mid row.

I'm running into Joann tonight to see if they have any bamboo circs at a reasonable price. I think this will be exactly what I need to get thru the Magic Shawl for my mom. I tried a pair at HYAW on Friday night at the Knitter's Night Out but didn't love the hefty price tag. It was nice to have a girl's night out, since I missed my meetup last Wednesday, and any day that ends in martinis classifies as a good day in my book. I got to hang out with Beth, Sonya, Amy, Amanda, and met 2 new people that I think are regulars at HYAW. The shop owner came in to, and shocked me by asking about my daughter and how she was doing. That's good customer relations I tell ya!

Speaking of daughter, this is why you DON'T let your 11 year old "see" your camera phone.
I look thrilled, don't I?

I discovered it this morning while uploading my WIP's. It made me laugh, and it made me miss her at the same time. I hope Friday gets here fast!

I have 2 classes to teach this week, and not much other free time to speak of, with the last week of soccer practice to get thru. I hope to have an FO to show you soon!

Talk to you again real soon!

Friday, October 13, 2006

Winter doldrums?

Who'd a thunk I would be having them already. It's only the 13th of October forcryingoutloud! I'm cranky, frustrated and just wanna knit already. Every night this week I've piled on layers of clothes and more blankets, cuz the freakin window a/c is still in my bedroom window and it's making it like the Arctic Zone in my room at night. Take it out you say? Oh, sure, that WOULD be the perfect solution except I'm too tired every night to even think about conquering that beast! So blankets and layers it's been. Maybe this weekend (pulling a window a/c out during a rain storm is WAY funner than managing it only when it's cold). I know how to have fun.

I wish I could say I was making skads of progress on my new projects, but alas that would be a lie. I need to cast on the second sleeve of SO's sweater, so I can enjoy mindless stockinette knitting while I'm out and about. But I haven't had the time to be able to sit down and actually cast on! I was at ginnastics (a friend's child always pronounces it that way, so it stuck) last night and spent the whole dang 2 hours that I was there on 1 row of the Magic Shawl. Oh yeah, it's Magic all right! Like it will be a frickin miracle if I don't toss it out the window while cruising down the e-way at 80. (Fortunately the price of the yarn will guarantee it's safety) So the plan I had to work on that for an hour and then spend the second hour casting on the second sleeve and casting on for Tempting didn't happen.

I have also spent a little (very little) time reconstructing a knitted item that has just been languishing in my drawer, in a semi unwearable state. I hope to have that handled pretty soon and will post pics to document the process.

I AM going to Knitter's Night Out tonight and meeting up with some friends since I missed my regular Wednesday meet up, so my plan is to cast on for Tempting AND the second sleeve and go from there. I'm thinking Magic Shawl won't be making an appearance tonight. I can't wait to just sit and knit, and actually have something to show for it at the end of the night.

I know I have been totally obsessed with knitting, since I haven't really been able to get anything done lately. I know this because while driving down the road today I swore that someone in front of me had a license plate that said ACRYLIC. Not my fiber of choice, mind you, but it just kinda jumped out at me. Upon further investigation of course it didn't say that at all, but that led me to think I'm truly tired and pre-occupied with this hobby that I just can't seem to fit in sometimes. Very frustrating. Dang job.

Bundle up all my fellow Michiganders. We're not looking at warmer temps for a few days, and the rain this weekend should make it even better. ??

Have a great weekend!

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

Wow!

My problems are so insignificant when I read blogs like this: Amish Victims

Please, do what you can. I'm blown away by the truly amazing knitters/spinners/bloggers that I'm fortunate enough to come in contact with. Or even read about.

They need spinners, so if you can, lend a hand.

Wow!

Friday, October 06, 2006

Busy busy!

I'm so happy to be on to new projects!! I pulled the SO's sweater out of procrastination time out and managed to whip thru almost his whole sleeve last night. He was extremely happy to see progress on it. (Geez it's about time, it's almost winter already!) When I set it down to combat boredom and do a row on the Magic Shawl he was real quick to say "HEY, I've been waiting on this sweater WAY longer than your mom and her shawl". Picture the pouty lip that accompanied that statement. I said "Relax dear, I'm just giving my hands a break, and only doing 1 row". He seemed content with that. (Well, maybe if you wait long enough it will be ready by NEXT winter!) Holy crap, it IS pretty boring though. I'm happy it's chunky yarn on size 10's! The picture came out really dark, since it's black yarn and it's laid out on his camo blanket (which I made him-he really acts like I do NOTHING for him).
Actually, the pictures are very telling, since it really is just a big black blob!

Here's a picture of the shawl in progress.

Every other row calls for K1,M1 and that's kinda tricky with this particular yarn. I did the last row as K1,Knit front and back thru back loop and don't see a definite difference. Has anyone else tried this, and will I be frogging soon cuz I goofed up? Let me know what you think.

I'm hoping to cast on for Audrey this weekend, so I'll have the 3 projects to bounce between. I'll go from straight stockinette in black, to K1,M1 in metallic yarn, to 2x2 ribbing in Calmer. Hmmm, which one will push me over the edge? Better stock up on happy beverages for the test!

I haven't been spinning much lately, but I did start the merino/angora roving that I got from the Romeo Fiber Festival a few weeks ago. I'll have to remember to snap a pic, it's coming out very nicely with a somewhat metallic gray look. I'm thinking of keeping it as a single and make a shawl or wrap of sorts with it. I'll keep you posted on that progress.

Have a great weekend everybody!!

Thursday, October 05, 2006

Finally!

I thought these were literally going to be the end of me. I met up with my girls last night at Caribou in Troy and knocked out the last few rows of the toe. Check it:

I need to transfer this and the Silk shrug over to my FO's page with all the details if I can remember to grab my notebook that has the info. I like the socks but I'm still not crazy about the way I finish off the toe. I have the Kitchener down but it's that pesky last stitch that always seems to kinda stick out and make a pointy nuisance of itself. I try to weave in the ends in a manner that smooshes the point down, but I still always feel like an amateur at that particular step. Any tips? I already do the "slip the end stitch over it's neighbor on all four sides" but it still comes out kinda square.

I have two sweaters lined up for my next big project and I also intend to pull my SO's sweater out of procrastinator's time out. I need to just do his already. For myself I will be making Tempting by Jenna Adorno out of a beatiful deep red Debbie Bliss Cashmerino, and I will be trading in some pink Calmer for 3 additional skeins of the dark purple Calmer I purchased for another project and that will become Audrey. I'm very excited to be making a sweater for myself finally. Granted, I only made one, but it was for DD and not me. I hope Audrey suits me, as I can see myself making it in a wool yarn as well. I can't wait to get started.

I also scored big time today by catching an error on an online craft seller. I won't mention their name, but thanks to my inquisitive phone call I scored 2 sets of Addis, size 1 and size 4 for a really good price. The 1's are to replace Amby's 1's that she lent me, since some child or animal sat on my sock bag and bent hers more than I could stand. The 4's are just to enhance my collection since I'm periodically searching for 4's and have to settle with my Denise 5's. Don't hate me for getting lucky once in a while.

Have a great day!!

Wednesday, October 04, 2006

F.O., F.O., another one to show!

Finally, an accomplishment to show. Here's the finished Sari Silk Shrug in all it's glory.




But I'm still Grumpy (ha ha), cuz my Hippo sock is taunting me with it's un-F.O.'d status. I'm so close it's killing me. I even contemplated getting up at 5 a.m. the other morning when the storm woke me up, just to finish it. Fortunately good sense kicked in and I went back to sleep, but it's bugging me that much.

I went to the Sewing Expo in Novi over the weekend with my mom and City Knits had a booth there. My mom fell in love with a shawl that was on display and found the color of Karabella's New Magic that she liked but they only had one ball. My buddy Lynn from my knitting group happens to work at CK so I paid her a visit yesterday and she hooked me up with the pattern and the yarn. My intent is to knit it for my mom and surprise her with it. It's a very simple shawl pattern and the yarn makes it look tricky. I hope it goes fast. I cast on for it yesterday and completed a few rows, but it's quite shocking to go from size 1 needles to a size 15 and I'm having some slippage issues. I hope once I get a little further along I'll have more to hold onto. Has anyone else made this shawl?

The Sewing Expo was really cool and it reaffirms my need to quit my regular job so I can spend all my waking moments on all things crafty. Dang job!

Back to the shrug. I actually received several compliments at work including multiple comments from my boss, Mr. I-have-absolutely-no-fashion-sense- whatsoever. Wonders never cease. It was really comfortable and I will probably be making another incarnation of it in the near future. I did the sewn bind off and am very pleased with the stretchy comfortable edge that provided. My llama shrug pulls a little since there's no elasticity in the llama and I'm seriously considering blowing out the edging and re-doing it with a sewn bind off. I have enough yardage to do it, and might even switch it to the seed stitch edging instead of the ribbing. We'll see, that's my perfectionist mentality working overtime again.

Have a great day. I hope to have another FO to add very soon!!

Monday, October 02, 2006

The end is near....

for the dreaded Hippo Beast socks, that is. More to follow soon!

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