Biomaj5

First FO of 2012

2012-01-15T21:58:00.000-06:00

I didn't blog last week because I was busy visiting my friend Gnome in Texas and didn't have much progress on the blanket anyway. However, I finished my stripey socks last Thursday, so I have the first FO of the year!

I freaking love these socks. I think this is the first time I've completed 2 at a time socks (I could have sworn that I started a pair 2AAT before, but I must have frogged them or something). This is definitely the first time that I've done afterthought heels. I love how the socks are identical. I had to weigh the yarn and split the ball into 2 separate balls. The socks were on the needles together except for the toes and the heel. I increased the toes to 29 sts per needle; however, this became a problem when I got to the ribbing. I wanted to do 2x2 ribbing, but was short by 2 sts. After asking for help on Plurk, Wendy had the awesome suggestion of increasing 2 sts when I started the ribbing, so I did. I wish I would have thought of that lol. I have almost half of a skein of yarn left over, so I might make some fingerless gloves or something.
Pattern: I used Wendy's Toe-Up Slipstitch Heel pattern to know what number of sts to increase to, but I used The Knitgirllls afterthought-heel tutorial for the heels.
Yarn: String Theory Continuum in Coronal Mass Ejection
Needles: (2) US2 circs
Rav Project Page

A few months ago, I inquired about a destash for trade only on Rav. The seller agreed to put me as first dibs if she ever decided to sell rather than trade, and she made that decision last week. So now I have my second skein of String Theory Continuum, this time in Dark Matter. I like it.

My husband and I are trying to make a concerted effort to pay off our credit card debt this year, so I am on a fairly strict yarn budget from now on. Dreaming about having a house where I can just let the dogs out of the back door to pee without having to go with them is helping me stay motivated. In the meantime, I'm going to need minis for the blanket, so I imagine that's going to take up a fair chunk of the budget. Luckily, minis are fairly cheap and I can get 2-3 squares from each one.

The blanket is growing, albeit slowly. I'm slightly behind schedule now; since today is the 15th I should have finished 30 squares this month. I've done 25. So I'm not too far behind yet.

It would appear that I cannot take a photo in this apartment without either a dog or a dog toy getting into the pic. Before very long, I'm going to have to clear out the entire living room just to photograph the blanket.
# of squares done: 80 (640 to go)
% complete: 11%

Even-numbered years are always better

2012-01-01T14:19:00.001-06:00

I am so glad that 2011 is over. I have a thing for even numbers, so I think 2012 will be better just because it's an even year. 2011 had a few bright spots, but overall I think it sucked and I'm ready for a new year. Here's a few reasons why 2012 will be better:

For starters, I was married on Feb 29, 2008, so I finally get to have my "first" anniversary.
Secondly, I am so excited for the Red/TFK/Nine Lashes concert in Tulsa on March 11 that I can hardly stand it.
My 10 yr HS reunion is this year. I'm not so sure that's a good thing, but hey. I'm gainfully employed, practice regular hygiene, don't have to worry about multiple baby daddies, and I'm sober. I've also never been arrested. That's more than several from my class of 24 people can say.
It's an Olympic Year. Helllllooooo, Ravelympics and Team Sprout (the 2012 ravelympics group hasn't been made yet, so I linked the 2010 group)

I didn't quite meet my 2011 FO goal (22 in 2011). I came fairly close with 18 FOs though. My 2012 goal is 24 FOs and to finish the sock yarn blanket. I'll also need to figure out something for a Ravelympics goal (beyond heading a team and keeping my sanity lol). I didn't meet my 2011 reading goal of 88 books either, although I came dangerously close to getting halfway there (I finished 42). If it weren't for the 3 months that I didn't knit or read anything, I would have certainly surpassed the knitting goal and could have met the reading goal. I think my reading goal for 2012 will be 60. I know I can do 48, so I'll make my goal 60 for a challenge and hope I make it. I made badges:

I started some fantastic stripey socks this week. I've always heard that vanilla socks made out of self-striping yarn are addictive, and it's true. I decided to challenge myself just a little bit and do my first afterthought heels as well as doing 2 at a time on 2 circs. So far, so good. The socks are approximately 2 stitches off from each other, color-wise.

I used Wendyknits' toe-up slipstitch heel pattern just to know how much to increase to (58 sts), but I'm using the Knitgirllls' afterthought heel tutorial. I'm using (2) ~24" US2 circulars. The yarn is String Theory Continuum in Coronal Mass Ejection. Here's the link to my ravelry project page.

And finally, blanket Sunday. All of the ends that can be are woven in. So far, I am slightly ahead of schedule. I started it on Dec 5, so I needed to make 52 squares in Dec in order to finish within a year. I've finished 55 squares as of 11pm CST last night.

I couldn't get Jake and Sadie to stay out of the picture, so I resorted to making funny squawking sounds so that they'd at least look cute for me.

# of squares done: 55
% complete: 7.6%

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T22:00:00.000-06:00

I finally finished my Christmas knitting yesterday while in the car on the way to the inlaw's. The last gift finished was a cowl for Mom, and we didn't get to her house until this morning. The fact that I finished her gift yesterday was fantastic, especially since I've had to finish gifts in front of her on the actual holiday more than once.

I finished DH's Jacques Cousteau hat last Tuesday. I worked on the majority of it in front of him, and he was still surprised when I plopped it on his head shortly after weaving in the ends. He had forgotten that I said I'd knit him a hat, and so I won Christmas this year.

Pattern: Jacques Cousteau Hat
Yarn: Cascade 220 in 9465
Needles: US7
Rav Project Page

Sorry about the mess on the island behind DH. I've been an adult for 10 years, but I can't figure out if I'm supposed to keep every bill statement that comes in the mail or not. Since everything is digital now, I suppose I can just shred them. But I'm still scared that something bad will happen if I get rid of them, like somehow I won't have proof that I paid the bill or something. I'm weird like that. So I stack them on the island and pretend they don't exist. Moving on.

I finished the second of the 54 hats last week around Sunday or Monday. The second looked the same as the first and both fit the girls. They seemed to like them, so that's good. Both hats together took less than a full skein of Malabrigo Worsted.

Like I said earlier, I finished Mom's Stacked Eyelet Cowl in the car yesterday. Mom wanted a "manly" color since she's pretty much a tomboy, so I picked Malabrigo Silky Merino in Smoke. She liked it as well, and it fit.

Pattern: Stacked Eyelet Cowl
Yarn: Malabrigo Silky Merino in Smoke
Needles: US7
Rav Project Page

I came across the most adorable little pattern on Friday night for a mini snowman. I made one in the car on the way to the IL's, although I had to finish it at their house. I think it's so stinking cute that I almost can't stand it. When I make the next one, I'm going to make sure to make the arms lower so that they won't be covered by the scarf.

Pattern: Minimochi Snowman
Yarns: Lang Jawoll in White, Tempted Good Grrl in Onyx, and Madelinetosh Tosh Sock in Pool
Needles: US1 (I thought I was going to snap them several times)
Rav Project Page

I started the Palouse Mitts back in October during a bout of startitis. I've completely lost interest in them. I'm not sure why though. They're cute and everything, and I haven't had any problems with the pattern. Could it be the yarn? I think this is the third time I've tried to use it-it's Madtosh in Green With Envy. I guess I'll wait to frog them and see if I can get motivated again to look at them.

Speaking of frogging, I finally killed the La Digitessa Socks today. I'd lost my place when I accidentally deleted my stitch counter app, and if I remember correctly, I don't think the row counter jived with where it looked like I was anyway. And they didn't fit.

I had a bit of stash enhancement this week. I got several minis, but I don't want to try to show you all of them and explain what they are lol. I also got my Tempted Burlesque package. This is the debut of the Feisty Grrl line (100% SW Merino). The colorway is Blue Blood. I really like it, but I'm not sure what I'll make with it.

It's finally time for the blanket. I've managed to knit 8 squares since yesterday, so I averaged 1 square per day for the week. Since it'll require 720 squares if I do the size I've planned, I need to do at least 2 per day to finish it within a year. I'd like to have it done in 6 months or so, so I need 4 squares per day. Now that Christmas knitting is done, I'll have more time to devote to it. I measured it on the floor today, and it is 55" across, so it is 7" longer than intended (1st square=2", so 24 squares should equal 48"). I'm beginning to wonder if I shouldn't make it as I've planned. I'm going to need to buy a lot of minis, that's for sure.

# of squares done: 38
% complete: 5%

Christmas is coming, whether I like it or not.

2011-12-18T21:54:00.001-06:00

For Christmas this year, I only had to knit 5 items: 2 Stacked Eyelet Cowls, 2 "54" hats, and 1 Jacques Cousteau hat. Christmas is a week away, and I have finished 3 of the 5 (1 cowl & both "54" hats). That stinking blanket sucked away my desire to knit on anything else. However, I have all week to finish the Jacques Cousteau hat for DH (I'm approximately 75% done with it), I'm off on Friday (and maybe half of Thursday), and I have a 4 hour drive to the IL's on Saturday as well as all day Saturday to knit the cowl for Mom. I'm not too incredibly worried.

I just finished the second of the 2 hats for my friend's daughters. I'm a little concerned about them fitting, but they both fit on my head, so I think it'll be ok.

Pattern: "54"
Yarn: Malabrigo Worsted in Gerino
Needles: US9 dpns
Rav project page

I think I'm going to start a thing called Blanket Sunday. It'll be an easy way for me to watch my progress on the blanket. I doubt I'll post every Sunday, but hopefully I can be somewhat regular with it. Since my first blog about the blanket was last Sunday, I'll count that as the first installment. Here's the blanket as of yesterday (haven't worked on it since then):

# of squares done: 30
% complete: 4%

The blanket was supposed to be 4 feet wide by 5 feet long. The first square was 2" wide (in square orientation), so 24 squares should be 48". However, the blanket is wider than I am tall (I'm 4'11"). I haven't actually measured it on the floor, so maybe the weight of the squares makes it stretch enough to make it longer? Either way, this blanket is going to be huge. H-U-G-E.

Stash Expansion Extravaganza

2011-12-11T15:08:00.000-06:00

I may have gotten carried away with stash enhancement this month. I just wanted some self-striping yarn.

My new babies, L-R: String Theory Continuum Self-Striping in Coronal Mass Ejection (bought from a destash on Rav), Spinning Fates Toula in Sam The Snowman (Etsy purchase), Lollipop Yarn Feelings in Shazam (Etsy purchase), and Gynx Yarn Sock in Oil Slick (fantastic Christmas present from Gnome). Clearly I need to block Etsy on my computer.

I don't think this one counts as a self-striping, so I photographed it alone. I love the colors in this skein so much-I can't believe no one bought it before I did!

It's Another Crafty Girl's Strong Sock in Hideous Zippleback (another Etsy purchase... sigh). Finally, Tempted is offering a 20% off Christmas sale, so I convinced DH that I really need more blue yarn. Sidra came home to me.

Then there was the yarn that I bought for Christmas presents. I personally don't think it should count as stash enhancement since it won't be staying here for long, and therefore shouldn't count towards my total number of skeins acquired. Just sayin.

First up is another skein of Malabrigo Silky Merino. I'm going to make the same cowl that I made as a Christmas present for one of my friends (I'll show you that here in a bit), the Stacked Eyelet Cowl. My mom is a bit of a tomboy, so I got her a manly color, Smoke (per her request, nothing "pretty").

I'm also going to knit hats for my friend's 2 daughters, so I bought some Malabrigo Merino Worsted in the Gerino colorway. I think I'm only going to need one of them though-the first hat didn't take much.

I finished a Christmas present about a week ago. I am awful about keeping presents until Christmas, so the recipient already got it. She loved it. :)

Stacked Eyelet Cowl
Needles: US 7
Yarn: Malabrigo Silky Merino in Blackberry

I've finished one of the hats for my friend's daughters. One more to go.

Pattern: 54
Needles: US9 dpns
Yarn: Malabrigo Merino Worsted in Gerino

I'm knitting the Jacques Cousteau hat for DH's Christmas present. I've knit on it in front of him and he hasn't even noticed. Since I have until Christmas to finish it, I've set it aside for now while I work on other Christmas knitting (I need those hats done by Thursday, 12/15). I have somewhere between 4 and 6 inches. I start the decreases when I get to 8 inches or so.

Jacques Cousteau Hat
Needles: US 7 dpns
Yarn: Cascade 220 in 9465 (aka dark brown)

Finally, I have a shameful confession. I've jumped on the sock yarn blanket bandwagon. I started Shelly Kang's Sock Yarn Blanket last Monday. I have a small OCD problem, and I agonized over the decisions I had to make with this blanket. Do I knit it in diamonds like the original? Or in squares? If I go with diamonds, do I live with the sawtoothed edges or do I knit triangles to fill them? If I go with squares, there is a nice solid border. Regardless of orientation, do I knit a border? I had to start over 4 times before I finally decided on the square orientation. I still haven't decided whether or not to knit a border around it. The thought of picking up all of those stitches is a tad bit intimidating, but I do have a 60" knitpicks interchangeable cable. I also need to decide how big to make it. Each square is 2" wide or so. I think I'll probably want a 4'x5' blanket, so that'll be 24 squares wide by 30 squares tall. That'll be 720 squares. Sheesh. It's a good thing they're fun.

Here is my blanket as of 10 minutes ago:

I've had to make myself put it down in order to knit Christmas presents. When I finish a gift, I get to knit on the blanket for a while. As long as I do 2 or more squares per day, I'll have it done within a year. I hope to be done by May.

Starting this blanket made me realize exactly how few sock yarn remnants I actually have. I could have sworn that I have a lot, but I don't. After joining the blankie mania group on Ravelry, I discovered the world of sock yarn mini skeins. People apparently divide up skeins into mini skeins of ~20yds or 5g and then sell them or swap them. There are Etsy sellers who sell them as well. Since starting this blanket, I have bought.... 28 mini skeins. I've received 9 of them in the mail so far. I have to stop myself from buying more. Here's what's come so far:

2 mini skeins of Colinette Jitterbug in the Jay colorway. I have approximately 40yds total, and have already knit a square with one of them.

Next up are 7 skeins of Sunshine Yarns Sock Yarn in Deep Within, Peacock, In Bloom, Biosphere, Be Thankful, Everlast, and Bella. They are 6g each, totalling approximately 155yds. I've already used Be Thankful and Everlast in the blanket.

There should be some kind of warning on these things about how addictive they are. Good grief.

Stilwell

2011-11-27T20:31:00.000-06:00

I had a very lovely long weekend (I've been off since Wednesday), and I put a lot of knitting time in. This is what my Stilwell looked like a week ago from today:

By last Thursday, I had progressed to this:

I finished the sweater on Friday (although I didn't weave ends in until after blocking). I discovered that I don't have a stopper for my kitchen sink, and I didn't see the point of filling up the tub for a sweater. Therefore, I pulled out our cooler, wiped it out, and gently washed the sweater in it. I'm not sure if I should feel resourceful or hickish lol.

I pinned it out on the blocking mats and promptly waited forever for it to dry. I don't know why there are stripes in the sweater; they are not visible when it's dry.

Finally, after the application of a fan, the sweater dried today. :D

I knit the sweater out of Jo Sharpe Silkroad DK Tweed. It took a little over 4 skeins of the blue (and I mean a very little over 4) and less than 1 of the white. I used a US9 needle for the stockinette sections and a US11 for the colorwork. In retrospect, I probably could have gotten away with using a US10.5 for the colorwork because it's a tad bit loose. Not bad for my first raglan sweater and my first fair isle sweater.

I have made quite a bit of progress on another knitting project, but I can't show you until after I finish it and give it to the recipient (a blog reader). It's supposed to be a Christmas gift, but I seriously doubt I'll be able to hold on to it that long. Since I'm nearly done, I'll be lucky to keep it for another week. I've also made a point to pick up reading again so that I have an escape from the stress of life. I've decided to reread a favorite childhood series of mine, starting with All Creatures Great And Small by James Harriot. So far, it's just as lovely as I remembered.

An FO and Startitis

2011-11-13T19:36:00.001-06:00

I finally have another FO. I finished my Hitchhiker Scarf, made from my one lonely skein of Wollmeise.

I've been teaching my friend Kristie to knit, which has lead to a very serious case of startitis. I recently started the Palouse mitts using my skein of Madelinetosh Sock in Green with Envy. I got it from one of the Loopy Ewe clubs from last year.

I've also started Stilwell. I bought the yarn for this sweater (Jo Sharp Silkroad DK tweed) almost 2 years ago. I managed to hide that yarn purchase from DH until I started the sweater last week. :D

I'm a little bit concerned about the tension in the fair isle section, but I'm choosing to ignore that voice in my head for now. It's good practice for learning to ignore the rest of the voices anyway.

Annoying sidenote: while looking at the picture above just now, I realized that there is a glaring error in the top section of the fair isle. I can't believe that I didn't even notice it until just now! It's bad enough and obvious enough that I can't let it go. I'll have to figure out where I went wrong too. Boohiss.

I also started a hat in an effort to placate the startitis (it didn't work since I started Stilwell after I started the hat). It's the painted forest hat on size 15 needles. I can't remember what the yarn is-berroco hip hop or something like that. I bought it when I was a brand new knitter. My wrists hurt for 2 days after I worked on it last, so who knows if I'll finish it. I may just do one row every now and then until it's done.

Since I'm doing a lot of work related to music right now, I got my I Am RadioU shirt today. RadioU is a freaking fantastic Christian rock radio station. You get the shirt for donating to them during their Unleash the Music fundraiser. You can stream them online or use the app for iphone & android if you'd like to listen to RadioU (they are an actual radio station-90.5 in OKC-check their site to see if you can pick them up where you live). So here I am in my shirt today, although it's a bit big:

My year of concerts continues on-this Thursday the Rock and Worship Roadshow is coming to OKC. I'm most excited about seeing Disciple, Group 1 Crew, and Hawk Nelson, but MercyMe, Jars of Clay, Trip Lee, and Matt Maher will all be there. The best part is that you get to see all of those bands for $10. The drawback is that it's open seating and I had a bit of crowd anxiety at an event I went to on Friday. I think I'll be ok this time though. I'm excited! I love concerts so much.

\m/

I have a good excuse...

2011-10-24T23:09:00.001-05:00

...for why I haven't blogged in almost 4 months. Do you want to see? I present to you my life for the last 4 months, in a series of photos.

First I saw Maylene and the Sons of Disaster in OKC at the Conservatory. This is my lifegroup leader Vern, the lead singer of MATSOD Dallas, and Eva from 91.online.com:

I go to the northwest OKC campus of Lifechurch.tv, and I help out at the hospitality area. We do a series called At The Movies every July, and sometimes the pressure gets to us and we have to goof off:

We decorated our campus in a Tron theme. Please note that I barely made it through the original movie and didn't bother with the second.

My lifegroup leader does a top 40 countdown show for 91online.com. Sometimes we go hang out with him at the station. Did I mention that I needed to be a princess in order to be brave enough to talk on the air?

This was the summer of concerts for me, and on Aug 13 I saw Switchfoot at Frontier City:

Next up was a Beckah Shae concert. This is my lifegroup and Beckah Shae. We really need to find someone who knows how to focus an iphone camera.

Then Labor Day weekend rolled around, and as always I went to the Choctaw Labor Day Festival. This year the Sunday headliner was Third Day. I sat in my seat for 8 hours to get front row seats. I could have sat for far less time, but I was also avoiding my in-laws. Multitasking for the win.

Oh, and did I mention that I got a pic with Mac Powell? I did.

Less than a week after we got home, I was driving home one night and a very nicely intoxicated idiot who was driving without a license while on a suspended sentence for robbery decided to fail to yield on green at an intersection. I broke my car and he went to jail. It was 3 weeks before I got my car back.

So Icon For Hire is my favorite band. I listened to their cd exclusively on repeat for a full 2 weeks after it came out in August. When I heard that they were playing in Shawnee on Sept 13, I freaked out. It was pretty much the best concert ever. It was poorly promoted, and only ~20 people showed up. I was right in front of the stage and pretty much got a personal concert. It.was.awesome.

Then I decided that the time had come for my next tattoo. Here is the before pic:

During:

The finished product:

I have been knitting a little bit. I've been doing a whole lot of band research for my lifegroup leader, so I've spent most of my free time putting together spreadsheets and band contact info. Because of that, my knitting output has been a tad bit scant. But here is the first sock of my skull socks. If you remember, I had to frog the whole sock because it was too tight. I started over using US3 dpns:

Here is my Hitchhiker scarf out of my only skein of WM:

It's a tad bit longer than that now.

There were more concerts this weekend. This time, I went with a mission: to interview the lead singers of the bands to ask them specific questions about Christian bands and their message. First up was a fantastic band called Fight The Fade. Unfortunately I didn't get any pics of them, but trust me, they are awesome. The headliner was Spoken:

Saturday's lineup was Blood and Water, Nine Lashes, and I Am Empire. This concert was so poorly promoted that it was a joke. Only 3 people showed up, and all of them were with me! Never schedule a concert on a OU football night in a small town.
Blood and Water:

Nine Lashes:

And, I Am Empire:

I got to interview the lead singers for all 5 bands! It was so exciting! Now I still need to transcribe the interviews, along with about a dozen other tasks for my lifegroup leader. So now you know why I haven't knit much, or blogged much, or plurked much... etc etc.

What was that? I couldn't hear you.

2011-07-04T16:16:00.003-05:00

Sidenote: I'm 4'11". Having been bombarded with short jokes for my entire life, I consider myself to be something of an expert in the field. After I typed the title of this post, that cute little sarcastic voice in my head was kind enough to auto-fill with "Well of course you can't hear. You're so far down there." Thank you, thank you. I'll be here all week. Probably.

I went to a freaking awesome Fireflight concert last night in Broken Arrow with some of my friends from my lifegroup (lifegroups are small groups of people who go to lifechurch.tv btw). Anywhoo, we were about 4 rows back from the front of the stage. My ears still hurt (although my hearing has been a bit muffled in the left ear and the ear hurts ever since the dentist took out my wisdom tooth last Saturday and practically killed me in the process). Fireflight is a fantastically awesome Christian rock band from Florida. So this was my view:

Ok, so my hands were over my head so I could get a pic. My actual view was a little lower. Use your imagination.

We got home somewhere around 2am, and I went to bed around 3am. My left ear still hurts, but the right has decided to forgive me for abusing it. Luckily, I've conditioned it to like loud music by wearing headphones at work all.the.time, so it was only mad for a little while. The left ear is a whiny gimp and sounds are still muffled through it.

I'm in an incredibly random and sarcastic mood, and have been for at least 3 days now. I apologize and I hope it isn't contagious (unless you'd like to be random as well salad).

I've been making some incredibly awesome skull socks. I just finished the heel on the first sock on Wednesday. Isn't it beautiful?

I have this little problem when it comes to knitting. I don't really care to check my gauge. I figure that I've knitted enough socks and I've used Tempted yarn enough to know that US2 will get me the gauge I want. Most times, it all works fine and dandy, but statistics (and common sense, but I was so darn excited to start them...) will tell you that eventually my defiance of gauge checking will come back to haunt me. See that pretty sock in the pic? It wouldn't fit over my heel. So, as a good pirate should, I gave it a quick death and disposed of the remains in a respectful fashion. I tried to make it a quick and painless death. Here is our lovely sock in the midst of the initial death throes:

Here are the remains, awaiting a proper rewinding:

It used less yarn than I thought it did to knit half of a fair-isle sock. Good to know. Finally, I learned that there are unintended uses for medicine bottles (yay for post-wisdom tooth extraction from hell pain meds):

So what have I learned from this? Fair-isle socks should be bigger than you think they need to be and medicine bottles make good yarn holders in a pinch.

The tenacious pirate spirit of the sock lives on though. It has been reincarnated into sock 1B:

This time I'm using US3 (although I did the cuff in US2-that part fit last time, so why change what works?). This time I'll check the gauge after about 10 rows.

Happy 4th of July! Be careful! Please talk loudly if you see me in person. Oh wait. I don't really like loud noises. Hmmm. Maybe write a note instead. Thanks.

Estes Park recap

2011-06-20T23:02:00.002-05:00

Gnome and I went to Estes Park 2 weeks ago. I really intended to do an update post earlier, but my wisdom teeth decided to take matters into their own hands by jacking up the left side of my mouth. Since the tooth pain is the biggest memory I have of the trip, I'll just start with that and get it over with so we can get to the actual trip details. My left wisdom teeth decided on Thursday that they were going to take a little vacation of their own and start moving. That lead to all of the teeth getting crowded and sustained white-hot pain on the left side for 5 minutes at a time every 1.5 hrs or so. By Saturday it changed over to constant throbbing and my face started swelling. I ended up ODing on Tylenol and Motrin just to stay functional (I weigh(ed) ~102. 1200mg of motrin and 1500mg of Tylenol alternating every 4 hours is a tad bit much). I went to my dentist when I got home on Monday. Thanks to the wisdom teeth moving, somehow one of my front teeth ended up with an abscess. I got a partial root canal and lots of antibiotics. She finished the root canal Saturday and the wisdom teeth are scheduled to come out next Saturday. Oh what fun. BTW, I recommend the toothache diet if you need to lose weight. Since I don't need to lose weight, I'm not so happy about losing 8lbs in a week.

Now, on to the trip. We left at 4am (also known as the buttcrack of dawn) on Thursday and promptly drove for 12 long hours. I had briefly considered taking a "leaving" picture, but I'm fairly certain Gnome would have killed me. So there are very few pictures of the trip out there. I was surprised at how flat Denver was. Oh, and I hate Kansas. Sorry if you live there, but there isn't much to see and the cell service sucks.

We stayed at Gnome's Aunt's cabin. She has bullmastiffs. I rarely take good pictures, so here's one with me and Poudre (who outweighs me by 10lbs):

We did some hiking around the cabin. Mike was able to get a few good pictures. I stayed as far away from the edge of the rocks as possible because I am terrified of heights.

We went on the Ghost Tour of the Stanley Hotel on Friday. I love Stephen King, and while I haven't watched the movie more than once, I have read The Shining several times. We did have a minor encounter with a ghost (that sort of thing happens to DH a lot). Lord Dunraven is a ghost known for grabbing women in a certain closet. We made some jokes about whether or not the ghost would be able to tell that Mike is a man or if he would be fooled because of Mike's long hair (it's down past his butt but he keeps it braided). We joked about it for a while. When we got out into the hallway, something forcefully knocked DH's sunglasses off of his head. It could have been the ghost or it could have been coincidental (although they were at the front of his head and fell down the back). Based on the jokes, we don't really think it was a coincidence.

Someone has a sense of humor (look closely at the ceiling).

We went to the wool market on Saturday. My DH and Gnome's DH didn't come in with us initially, but they drove around town. Apparently it's no big deal in Estes Park to let elk roam around on the road. DH sent me this pic:

I think shaved alpacas are just freaking adorable:

This should be the part where I should show you my epic stash enhancement from Estes. Well, um, I only bought 1 skein of yarn. It wasn't even for me-I bought it for my bff as a thank you for watching my dogs. In my defense, I was not a happy camper due to the tooth pain and I'm not really a fan of alpaca or mohair. So I drove 12 hrs and didn't bring home any yarn. BUT. I did score an awesome hat. I have a thing for goofy hats that goes back to my days as a cashier at Walmart during college. I learned that if you are wearing a ridiculous hat it is much harder for the customers to be rude to you. Here I am rocking the fauxhawk:

And since it's 100F in OKC these days, here's the fauxhawk's current resting place:

I can't have my poor swift getting cold in the a/c in our apt. Finally, I made pretty good progress on my skull socks. I started them in the car somewhere in the cell service black hole known as Kansas.

I think I'm in love.

The FO happydance

2011-06-07T09:32:00.000-05:00

I have an FO! I have an FO! My last one was March 1. Seriously. MARCH 1, 2011. That's over 3 months ago. Anyway, I finished my Interrupting Cow socks on Sunday. Aren't they cute?

The yarn is Shibuiknits sock in Spectrum. I love this pattern! Laura of The Knitgirllls designed it. It was super easy and well-written. I would say it's easy to memorize, but I'm all about reading the pattern so I don't have to think. But it would be easy if that's your thing.

I started these socks out of frustration from the stress of knitting for other people. I just wanted something for me. So they have officially been christened my happy socks and will be worn when my mood needs improvement. I expect they'll get a lot of wear lol.

In other random news, there is a minor event coming up this week. I'm not very excited about it or looking forward to it like whoa or anything. THIS WEEK IS ESTES! I'M SO EXCITED! (Yes, if you were in front of me right now, I would have yelled that at you and probably jumped up and down in excitement while clapping as well.) Gnome and her DH will arrive at my house around 9pm tomorrow night and we will leave at 4am-ish on Thursday. Since DH is an EMT and normally gets up around 4:30 for work, he gets to drive first. We'll drive alllllll day Thursday and eat dinner at Gnome's aunt's cabin that night. Friday will be devoted to relaxation and we are going on the ghost tour at the Stanley Hotel (I <3 Stephen King) on Friday afternoon. We'll hit the Estes Park Wool Market all day on Saturday and then drive home on Sunday. ::happydance::

I've been planning my car knitting for over a week now. I'm going to knit the Aargh! gyle Socks from knitpicks (rav link). Here is a photo that I ganked from Ravelry so my non-rav friends can see it:

Some of my lifegroup friends find my knitting obsession (and tattoo) a tad bit amusing. I mean, how can you not see a girl with a knitting tattoo and immediately think she's clearly hardcore and shouldn't be messed with? Right?! Well, they didn't get that memo and find it amusing instead. So I am knitting these hardcore superbad skull socks to prove how hardcore I am (let's see how many times I can fit hardcore into a sentence, shall we? I really should look for a synonym to use instead.) I'm going to use Tempted Good Grrl Into the Blue for the CC and Stacy dyed a lovely black for me for the background color. It should come in the mail today. ::fingers crossed::

Rawr. \m/

Destressifying my knitting

2011-05-14T11:25:00.000-05:00

Is destressifying a word? No? Well, now it is. I'm really bad about getting bogged down by promising to knit things for other people. I just can't say no. Add that trend to my serious startitis problem, and my knitting starts to stress me out. Over the past month, I was supposed to knit a pair of socks for a friend, a baby hat for another friend's new grandson, and I needed to knit something for Mother's Day. Add on the Austin Hoodie, Lady Bertram, and my long-neglected Geodesic cardi, and I end up getting frustrated just by the mere thought of knitting anything. So I had to put a stop to it. I told my friend that I can't knit socks for her right now, pretended that I can't see that skein of shibuiknits sock in Anime that is waiting to become the hat (bad I know), and got Mom a rose for Mother's Day. My Lady Bertram is in time out because I don't feel like looking for whatever error is screwing up the next row of lace, and my Austin Hoodie is hiding in its bag and will stay there until I feel like knitting a sleeve. To top it off, I CO a pair of socks just for me.

I've wanted to do the Interrupting Cow socks for a while. They almost require a bright yarn, and I have some Shibuiknits sock in Spectrum, so I bought the pattern. Voila! The first sock is almost done; all it needs is the bindoff.

It is so hard to capture the yarn color in a digital pic (I almost said "on film"-I haven't used film for years! Oops.) It's a combo of a very bright red, blue, pink, orange, and green. I honestly don't know if the socks are going to fit. They should be good lengthwise, but I can't get my heel through the leg of the sock because of the dpns. I guess I'll find out when I get around to binding off, right? lol.

We are officially 25.74 days away from leaving for the Estes Park Wool Market (thank you, Countdown app, for being so specific). Gas is thisclose to $4/gallon here, but we're still going to drive. My car gets good gas mileage, so thankfully it won't cost more than $250 total in gas (split between Gnome and myself). We're going to stay in Gnome's Aunt's cabin and have plans to do the Ghost Tour at the Stanely Hotel (hold me!). It should be a fantastic weekend! I can't wait. I am going to see Skillet at Rocklahoma on May 27, so I have something else fantastic to look forward to in the time between now and Estes. Yay summer!

Holy overdue update post, batman!

2011-04-12T22:29:00.000-05:00

I got back from the DFW Fiber Fest in Grapevine, TX, on Sunday afternoon. I had so much fun with Gnome and my bff Liz. I had promised DH that I wouldn't buy any fiber, yarn, or a spinning wheel (this is because I bought a guitar 2 weeks ago). I never said I wouldn't buy a spindle, and I need a plying spindle. Introducing Rosalie!

Rosalie is a 1.4oz spindle from Butterflygirldesigns. She joins my Golding, Alice. In case you can't see the trend, perhaps you should know that I named my guitar Jacob.

I had a pretty crappy day on Friday (my interview at OU did not go well, but that's a rant for another place), so I felt that the crappy day could possibly override the "I won't buy anything" promise with minimal backlash from DH. So I bought fiber from Two If By Hand. I saw their 80/10/10 Merino/Cashmere/Nylon blend in the colorway Radical Librarian. It reminded me of Laura from The Knitgirllls. Since I love to read too, I figured it fit me as well. I went for the slightly cheaper SW merino version.

Luckily, DH didn't intend to hold me to my promise. He just waited for me to fess up. It took me about 20 minutes after getting home to spill my guts. It's probably good that I didn't know that he was lenient or my wallet would be crying.

I was able to try out a few wheels while at the fiber fest. The first wheel I tried was a Spinolution Mach III. I didn't know what it was when I tried it, and it was soooo wonderful. I found out later that it is a $1,000 spinning wheel and just about choked. I was able to try an Ashford Joy, and while it was nice, it was a bit fiddly. We just didn't really get along. The last wheel I tried was a Ladybug. There wasn't a chair available, so I initially had to try to treadle it standing up. It sucked, and I was so disappointed. I really really wanted to like it, but I didn't. I walked away from the wheel, but came back to it later and asked for a chair. I am incredibly glad that I did! It was fantastic to treadle while sitting down. I didn't buy that one, but apparently I have begged DH enough because he agreed to split the cost of the wheel! We both get paid on April 29th, so that's when I'm getting it. My mom is going to chip in as well. There is a spinning store about 30 minutes away, and they have it. I need to go by and see how much they're charging for it as compared to the Woolery. I'll likely cave in to instant gratification and buy one from the local place.

I'm supposed to be spinning the SAL fiber, but I decided to start some of the Cjkopec fiber about a week before the SAL started. I'm still not done with it. I don't know what I was thinking other than that I wanted to practice so I won't screw up the SAL fiber. I split the 2.2oz braid in half, and this is what I have so far:

My consistency has gotten much better, so that's a plus. I hope I can finish it before April is over. I've been so busy lately that I've barely had time to knit. I'm knitting some socks for a friend and they're part of the last month of the Wendyknits KAL. I've got about 3" on the first sock done. FAIL.

I'm also doing the Lady Bertram as a KAL with my friends Muriel & Courtney. They finished about a month ago, and I'm still slogging along. I just started chart B, and I still have to get through it and chart C before I'm finished.

On a sidenote, it doesn't pay to wind your yarn too tightly.

Finally, I'm almost done with my Austin hoodie (this might be why I'm not making much progress anywhere else). I've finished the body and have picked up the stitches for one of the arms. I haven't decided if I'll actually put a hood on it or if I'll just put a collar in.

Hopefully I'll blog again before the month is out. I'm way too busy and really stressed out, but I'll definitely shout it from the rooftops when I get my spinning wheel.

Holy crap I made yarn

2011-03-08T22:34:00.001-06:00

I've been spinning my little heart out lately. I have enough roving now to consider it a stash (6 braids). Here's what I bought last week to practice on before the Tempted roving for the SAL comes:

BFL roving from Fiber Optic in Spring Fling colorway:

The next two are both from CJKopec and are 100% merino. The first one is Raspberry and the second is Wild Berry.

This one is so freaking cute! It's Jungle Boogie Merino Top from Indigo Muse. I had planned for it to be the first one I spun, but I was advised against practicing with merino because of its short staple length.

Finally, I bought some superwash BFL from Spincerely in the Harvest colorway:

It became my first pretty handspun (the other skein was my first, but isn't very pretty in my opinion). I didn't spin all of it-I tried to split it in half so I could make 2 singles, but apparently my first half was spun a bit thicker in places than the second. The second had more yardage, so I stopped on the second half before I was completely done with it. I plied it tonight:

I think I may need to get a plying spindle. I fit as much as I could on my poor little Alice. I made a homemade lazy kate to hold the singles:

Finally, here it is resting for the night. I want to "thwack" it when it's wet (in other words, beat the snot out of it against the side of the tub), and I can't do that while it's so late. DH would kill me for making that much noise. I put my human physiology book to good use:

Overall, I'm pleased with it. There are definitely thick and thin areas, but overall it's relatively even. This is an improvement over my last spinning. I hope I have enough to make hat out of it.

In other news, I finished another WIP. Remember the Aragorn socks that I started in January 2010? And that they were supposed to be a birthday present for March 2010? Well, I finished them last week and my friend received them today. I am so happy that they fit her! I was worried that they may be too small.

I'm knocking out the WIPs, but I'm replacing them just as quickly with new projects. Currently I have the Lady Bertram shawl and the Ribbed Ribbons socks on my needles, and my poor Geodesic cardigan keeps getting ignored. Maybe one of these days I'll pull it back out.

As if I don't have enough hobbies already

2011-02-27T10:40:00.000-06:00

I've wanted to spin for a while now, but I really wanted a wheel (and honestly turned up my nose at spindles because wheels are prettier). But the wheels I want (either a Ladybug or a Lendrum DT) are pretty expensive, and I don't have the spare cash laying around. Let's face it-I tend to be very obsessive with new things initially and then drop them out of a lack of interest after a week or so, and a $600 spinning wheel costs too much for me to just lose interest.

The Knitgirllls and Tempted are doing a spinalong on Ravelry, and I wanted to play along. Not having a wheel, I was going to sit out. A few people on Plurk had joined in the SAL, had bought spindles, and then plurked about them. A little voice in the back of my mind kept chattering on about spindles and roving, getting to play along with everyone else, and how pretty Tempted's roving would be. DH still hadn't gotten me a Valentine's Day present, so I asked for a spindle. After getting recommendations on Plurk, I decided to go with a Golding 0.75oz 2" Cherry Tsunami.

Isn't it beautiful? I want to name it. I was having trouble choosing between Jacob and Alice (lmao), and while I'd like to be able to say that I'm having private time with Jacob, I think the spindle wants to be named Alice. So Alice she will be.

I bought some roving at the DFW Fiber Fest in 2009, but I can't find the receipt to figure out what type of wool it is or where I bought it. Whatever it is, it's 1oz of wool.

Now it's yarn!

I don't have a chair with a back on it, so I had to improvise when I skeined it. I'm glad that I bought that tennis racket lol.

I got approximately 25 yards or so. There are quite a few places where I dramatically overtwisted it, but I think the overall product is is decent for a first attempt. I don't think I'll be able to knit anything with it, so it'll likely end up as a decoration. I have some wonderful green roving coming from Fiber Optic, and of course Tempted's roving will be here in time for the SAL in April. I'm going to buy some more roving tomorrow so I have plenty of fiber to practice on.

In other news, I finished my Clapotis on Friday night. It's right purdy. I don't think I'm going to block it.

Finally, GUESS WHAT. Gnome and I are going to the Estes Park Wool Market in Estes Park, CO, on June 9-12. We're going to stay in her aunt's cabin. I'm so freaking excited. I've never been to CO. We're also going to the DFW Fiber Fest in April. This will be my third year there, and I actually met Gnome IRL there for the first time (we'd been e-friends for a while before that though). Yay for fiber fests! One of these days I'll make it to MDSW, Rhinebeck, and the Sock Summit.

On A Roll SWAP SHAWL SPOILER POST

2011-02-14T18:38:00.000-06:00

It's only halfway through ~~January~~ February, and I've already done twice as many shawls as I finished in 2010. I am participating the Knitgirllls Small Shawl Swap on Ravelry, and I finished my shawl last night!

The pattern is the Leaf Shawl from the book Knitting Lace Triangles by Evelyn A. Clarke. When I started asking my friends if anyone had the book, everyone kept telling me that the book is a "design book." I had no idea what that meant, so I stubbornly decided that I was going to do the pattern anyway. Once I got into the book, I finally understood what they meant. The book has 4 or 5 different lace patterns, and you can put them together in various ways to make different shawls. If I wouldn't have been so hell-bent on doing the Leaf Shawl, this would have been a great opportunity to "design" my own shawl.

The yarn is Tempted Good Grrl. I had the pleasure of helping Stacy dye it on my weekend at Tempted Estates in mid-Jan. Stacy did most of the work by dying it green; all I contributed was the light brown spots scattered throughout the yarn.

DH is my post office mule. I sent it and a secret project with him and they were mailed out this morning. I really hope that my swap partner likes it. The partner list has been posted in the spoiler thread on Ravelry, but I don't know if my partner looked at it. I decided that I would just peek at the list to see who got my name and not look at their project. My grand plan failed, but I am THRILLED with the results! Lala of the Knitigirllls is knitting for me! I've seen the shawl on the podcast and I can't wait for it to come.

Happy Valentine's day! DH is buying me yarn and maybe a barnes & noble giftcard on Friday for Vday. I made him a Mexican casserole and looked pretty yesterday for his gift. I'm down to 5 WIPs. I'm trying to knock out the Aragorn socks next since they were intended to be a birthday gift last year. I need to finish the second sock by the end of March, and I'll give her one sock for last year and one sock for this year.

Giant Mansocks of Doom

2011-02-05T20:58:00.002-06:00

A friend from church asked me to make him some nice wool socks that he could wear under waders while camping in the winter. Being the nice pushover that I am, I agreed. I've almost given up hope that I'll ever learn to say no. Anywhoo, I wanted the socks to be nice and thick, so I bought some Knitpicks Swish DK in Cobblestone Heather. I had planned to just use that yarn, but I came across the pattern Men's Socks For Giving Away. The pattern has a nice manly set of three stripes at the top in a different color, as well as the heel and toe in the same color. I happened to have some yarn left over from my Blackberry Cabled Cardigan, and it matched the grey well.

I started the socks on Jan 9, but I've gotten sucked into other projects that I'd rather knit on instead. I knit 3/4 of the second sock today, and I'm finally finished!

These socks are freaking huge. Ginormous. My friend Jason wears a size 11. I had DH try the first sock on a few times because I thought it was surely way too big. I had Jason try on the first sock last Saturday and it fit perfectly. Just to give you an idea of the size difference between his socks and my feet, I took a comparison shot:

Ginormous. This makes #4 of my 22 in 2011 goal.

Make It Work!

2011-02-04T20:17:00.000-06:00

I was recently given the opportunity to test-knit a shawl pattern for Leslie of The Knitgirllls. I've never test-knit anything before, so I was a bit nervous. I think it turned out well though.

The shawl has quite a bit of stockinette and short rows, which makes it great for knitting while watching TV (Lost in my case) or reading (Harry Potter). While stockinette can sometimes be a boring brain suck, the short rows on this shawl are enough to keep it interesting.

The shawl finishes out with a knit-on edging. I wasn't able to read while knitting the edging, but I still found it addictive. It seemed that the repeats went quite quickly.

2 snow days really helped me out. I was able to finish the shawl in 12 hrs short of a week after starting it.

Ta-daaa! The pattern should be released around 2/10/11. I love the shawl. It's a quick easy knit. Many thanks to Leslie for letting me knit it. Make it work pattern link

Parade of Shame

2011-01-21T20:08:00.002-06:00

When I started knitting, I proudly proclaimed that I would only ever work on one project at a time. That lasted about a week. I decided that I need to do a progress update on all of my current WIPs in an effort to shame myself into finishing some of them.

I'll start with the oldest first. I started my Mystic Light shawl in October 2009. It was supposed to be my mom's christmas present that year. Eventually it was to become a mother's day present, then her birthday present, and then I just simply ignored it. I'm not even sure where I'm at or how much more work needs to be done on it.

Next up are my La Digitessa socks. The pattern was my Christmas present to myself in 2009. I'm 3/4 done with the first sock. Unfortunately, I tried to get it out last month and couldn't figure out where I was. My row counter did not jive with what the chart said, so there might be a mistake somewhere. I eventually gave up and finished my CPH instead.

My aragorn socks were supposed to be a birthday present for my friend Sarah. Her birthday is in March. I started them in Jan 2010. Sigh.

Next up is my Clapotis. Oh how I love this yarn (Malabrigo lace). Just getting it out to photograph it made me want to work on it. I started it on March 16, 2010. Hopefully I'll finish it some day.

I had such grand plans for my Geodesic cardigan. I even started a KAL group on Raverly and challenged Gnome to a duel. I am neglecting it because I'm kinda scared to do the tucks. I don't think they're hard to do, but I'm still hiding from it. I started it on June 1, 2010. I'm still ahead of Gnome, so technically I'm winning. :)

Finally, the youngest project. I agreed to knit some socks for the host team leader at church. I like them, and they're super easy, but I am easily distracted. Luckily, I've only had them OTN since Jan. 9, 2011, so I'm doing fairly well. I'm using some of the leftover yarn from my Ravelympics Blackberry cardigan, and I bought some grey swish DK to complement it.

I'm not a total lost cause though. I have an FO to show off! I just finished my Toe-Up Slip-Stitch Heel socks made from Knit One Crochet Too Ty-Dy. They're fraternal, but I still love them.

What am I going to do next? Cast on the Leaf Shawl, of course. Why change my habits now?

Happy place recap and sometimes I lie.

2011-01-20T18:32:00.001-06:00

I spent the past weekend at Tempted Estates. I had a fantastic time! I made some new friends too. Laura and Leslie of The Knitgirllls were there, as well as Tracee (Catraggedy), Jessica (showmeyourknits), and Sara (saradknits). Completing the lineup are Muriel (bffofwendy) and Stacy (Tempted). Bob was there too, of course. I managed to knit about a sock and a half. I used Wendy's Toe-Up Slip-Stitch Heel socks pattern and Knit One Crochet Too Ty-Dy yarn to make my first ever pair of vanilla socks. They're definitely fraternal, which bugs me a little bit, but I still love the colors. I've knit about half of the leg now on the second one.

My triumph of the weekend was finishing Muriel's girasole for her. She didn't want to do the edging, so I did it for her. It would have driven me completely insane for her to leave it unfinished or to take the next year to do a super-easy edging. She claimed on the podcast that she did 1/3 of the edging, but I think that's being overly generous. Because I finished it, I claim it as mine. I even made a ravelry project page for it. Here's a pic of the unblocked FO:

And an example of my contribution:

See? It's not that hard. Moving on.

There is a small shawl swap going on on the Knitgirllls group on Ravelry. This is my first swap. Basically, everyone fills out a questionairre and names are drawn. You use your partner's answers to determine your yarn color choice and pattern. As far as I know, it is a round-robin swap, meaning that the girl I am knitting for does not have my name. Everyone has until March 16 to finish and mail their shawl to their partner.

I took advantage of spending the weekend at my favorite yarn dyer's house to dye some yarn for the swap. I'm making the Leaf Shawl, so I wanted spring green yarn with a little brown in it. Stacy did the green and I added the brown. The brown isn't as dark as I wanted it, but I still adore the yarn. I can only give it away because I'm going to buy a skein or two in the future when I have more cashflow. Here is the yarn in all of its gorgeous beauty:

In the past few weeks, I have purposefully lied at least twice. Both times it was because I was knitting gifts. Remember this? It was Muriel's birthday present.

This was Stacy's thank-you-for-having-me gift. I even went as far as asking her how to block it properly lol. It looks better blocked, but I can't find the pic right away.

BTW, you should watch the latest episode (and all of them, really) of The Knitgirllls. I think you can watch it on their website (linked above), but I prefer to watch it through iTunes. Finally, I have the last Tempted @ 3am sock club package. I won't post a pic here for a week or so to prevent spoilers, but you can see it in the spoilers thread on the Tempted board on Ravelry.

I have a cowl and I'm headed to my happy place. I dare you to try to stop me.

2011-01-13T17:40:00.000-06:00

I decided to make myself a Rivendell Smoke Ring out of my Tempted Lovely Grrl from the last club shipment. It will be FO #1/22 for the year. Here it is blocking away happily:

Sorry for the iphone pic, but taking a picture with my good camera would require me to get up from the couch and I am frankly too tired to move. Thank God that tomorrow is Friday. After work, I will be heading to Tempted Estates for a lovely long weekend with several knitters (including both of the Knitgirllls). I call Tempted's house my happy place, and after the week I've had at work, I may not return.

In other news, I am participating in a small shawl swap (say that 10 times fast) on Ravelry. They drew names last night, but I can't tell who I got. I am going to do the Leaf Shawl. This weekend I'll ask Stacy to dye some nice spring green yarn with brown flecks (very similar to the first project pic on the rav page). I think it'll be beautiful! I wonder who drew my name?

2010 down, 2011 to go.

2010-12-31T19:28:00.000-06:00

Holy crap, 2010 is almost over. Overall, it was a pretty good year, despite the whole grad-school-isn't-taking-students thing. My tendency to avoid odd numbers has me a little skeptical about the potential quality of 2011, but we'll see. I graduated college both times in odd years; if I get into grad school this time, I will graduate in 2013. Perhaps that's a sign.

But I digress. I suppose I need to make new knitting resolutions for 2011. I did pretty well on the 2010 set. I finished 4 of 6:

1. ~~Knit a fair isle pattern~~

2. Design my own pattern

3. ~~Knit something error-free~~

4. ~~Complete a sweater~~

5. Finish something entrelac

6. Learn to knit continental style

As for #5, I tried entrelac and hated it. There was never a chance that I'd finish the scarf I started. #6 happened briefly-I started a garter stitch swatch that ended up being about 6" wide by 4" tall, but I was distracted by something shinier coming along.

I have no idea what to do this year. I'm setting a goal of 22 FOs this year, but other than that there isn't really anything that I feel a burning desire to accomplish. I guess I'll just let my FO goal stand as my resolution/goal for the year. Do you have any knitting resolutions?

Done and done and done

2010-12-25T15:48:00.002-06:00

Tis the season of FOs. In the past 48 hours (maybe less), I've finished 2 pairs of fingerless mitts and DH's Christmas cowl.

Exhibit A: Sleekit mitts
Yarn: Brooks Farm Acero
Production notes: These are so freaking cute. However, I've learned that I absolutely cannot stand yarn with rayon in it. It makes my hands hot and sweaty. I tried making socks with this once and didn't get very far because of it.
Verdict: I may still give them to my coworker as a late Christmas present (due to completion of exhibit C)

Exhibit B: Ribby Neckwarmer
Yarn: Bernat Alpaca blends (I actually didn't think DH would really like it, so why pull out the good stuff, kwim?)
Production notes: Quick, easy, and mindless, although I should have made it about 10 rows longer.
Verdict: He likes it.

Exhibit C: Endpaper Mitts
Yarn: Yellow=Shibuiknits Sock Canary, Blue=Tempted Goodgrrl Into the Blue
Production notes: Ohemgee I love fair-isle. It is so much easier than I thought it would be. This takes care of #1 on my 2010 Knitting Resolutions list (I guess I'll need to make another one soon).
Verdict: I think I'll definitely keep these.

Merry Christmas!

I think it wants to stay

2010-12-12T15:45:00.000-06:00

I don't know what possessed me, but I decided that I want to give one of my nice coworkers a handknit gift. She likes blue, so I grabbed some aran-weight Patons Soy Wool Stripes (you know, yarn that I don't mind parting with easily) and looked for fingerless glove patterns. The smart side of me suggested that aran weight gloves wouldn't take too long to make, and therefore I wouldn't get stressed out by the deadline. All of the cute patterns I found were for sock yarn, but I kept on. And then I found the Sleekit Mitts pattern on Ravelry, and promptly fell in love. I happen to have some blue fingering weight yarn that I don't love (shocking, I know), so I pulled it out.

I ignored the voice in my head that kept gently reminding me that the reason I swore off handknit Christmas gifts forever is the stress that my procrastination combined with deadlines causes. After, I'm a quick knitter, right? If there isn't a complicated pattern or anything, it would practically knit itself, right? Of course it would. So I casted on and merrily knit my little heart out. I continued to ignore the fact that after 5 days I haven't even gotten to the thumb gusset increases. Here's what I have so far:

It's cute, right? While ignoring the whole there's-a-deadline-on-this-and-I'm-clearly-insane thing, I've begun to fall in love with the gloves. I don't know if I can part with it. I don't like the yarn so much because it makes my hands sweaty, but that was in the summer. It doesn't seem to be so bad now. The gloves are blue, and I have an unhealthy obsession with blue.

FOapalooza

2010-11-21T14:37:00.002-06:00

I'm not sure if it counts as an -apalooza if I only finished one item, but I think this deserves a little fanfare. I finally (FINALLY!) finished my Central Park Hoodie. I started it in December 2008. For the last year or so, all it has lacked is seaming on the sleeves. I never worked on it because I hate the yarn (Berroco Comfort, if you're curious), and therefore I was determined to hate the sweater. Yesterday, I decided I was sick of seeing it in the sidebar of this blog, and pulled it out to finish it. Finally, almost 2 years after I started it (I blame the yarn choice on the fact that I was a new knitter), here is my CPH:

In other news, I finished the first Endpaper mitt. It's right purdy.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Colors!

2010-11-12T17:56:00.001-06:00

I finally got brave enough to try fair-isle (for any non-knitters, that's a type of colorwork, definition here). At first I was ambitious and wanted to make Edith the hat (rav link). However, I didn't trust my skills enough to keep from messing it up. So I decided to make the Endpaper mitts. I had initially decided to use white and a pale semi-variagated blue yarn, but then I discovered some wonderful Tempted Good Grrl in my stash. After I found that, I remembered that I still had yellow yarn left over from the duck feet booties that I made for Dragon. They were a match made in heaven. I ordered more of the yellow though, just in case.

I did a minimal amount of research on the Stranded board on Ravelry (dominant colors, anyone?) and cast on on Wednesday. OMG. I am in love with colorwork! I can't stop knitting it! I actually got up over an hour early this morning just so I could knit on the first mitten. Here's my progress as of this morning:

Yarn: Shibuiknits Sock in Finch and Tempted Good Grrl in Into the Blue.
Pattern: Endpaper mitts (see link above)
Size: Small

I refuse to knit on my citron shawl any longer.

2010-11-07T16:49:00.001-06:00

But that's mostly because I'm done! I like it too. It was a good reading/watching TV knit. I took a picture of it while it's blocking:

I've never blocked anything in my life, so I hope it turns out ok. I guess I'll find out. The pattern is from Knitty (here) and the yarn is Malabrigo Sock in the Rayon Vert colorway.

Now I need to figure out if I'm going to tackle a WIP, UFO, or if I should give into my sometimes dormant case of startitis. I've had my eye on Edith the hat. The only problem with that plan is that I've never done fair-isle. I guess I have to learn somehow, right?

ETA: this fulfills my "knit something correctly" new year's resolution. It only took 11 months to get that one taken care of.

Baby stuff

2010-10-23T13:37:00.000-05:00

(no, I'm not having one.)

One of my nice, sane coworkers approached me sometime in July and asked me for booties, a hat, and mittens in OU colors for his impending baby (due in late November). Being the procrastinator that I am, I put it off until about 2 weeks ago. Luckily, I got it done, but the baby was born last Thursday at 35 weeks (he's doing fine). I finished the writing on the second booty last night and delivered the goods today. I love to procrastinate. Now to finish a hat. Or play wii. Or read.

Progress is slow

2010-09-12T19:02:00.000-05:00

I received a complaint that I'm not blogging enough (be thankful I didn't post your pic in retaliation Liz! I thought about it, and you know I have good ones), so I'll update you with the microscopic amount of progress I've made since I last blogged.

I picked up my Geodesic Cardigan today for the first time since mid-June or so. I'm still in the waist decreases.

I wanted something to knit that didn't require much brain power so I could read or watch podcasts while knitting, so I cast on the Citron Shawl from Knitty on August 21st. Ta-daa:

I've been trying to find something to do with that yarn (it's Malabrigo sock). I didn't want to use it for socks because it is so pretty (I think it would stripe, and that wouldn't be cute IMO). I really like the way this shawl is turning out.

And, finally, in non-knitting news, I am winning my fantasy football league. That is all.

I finished, and I'm preoccupied

2010-08-07T20:09:00.000-05:00

My knitting has seriously slacked off lately. There are a few reasons for it, the main one being that I just bought a Nook. Now, it is very possible to knit and read at the same time, but I've been reading the Outlander series. I find it nearly impossible to turn away from the book long enough to watch what I'm doing when I'm knitting. So, the knitting has suffered. I'm also going to start Choctaw classes on Aug. 24th, so I've been preparing myself by studying a bit.

I did finish the stealth knitting project though! Finally, here is a picture:

They are the Duck feet from one of the issues of Knitty. While wholly adorable, they have been the bane of my existence since May. I can honestly say that I regretted starting them sometimes. However, Dragon loved them, and that is enough to make it worth the effort.

Geodesic cardi, new yarn, and a tease

2010-06-19T11:06:00.004-05:00

I'm knitting the Geodesic cardigan (Rav KAL link), and it is very slow going. We started the KAL on June 1, and I just started the waist decreases. (BTW, if you're reading this and want to join the KAL-please do!)

I cannot for the life of me get a decent picture of the yarn. It is a much deeper, more vibrant purple than what the picture shows. Grrr. It's tempted yarn, so you know that it's right purdy.

I won some yarn for my Labyrinth socks from the May 2010 Wendyknits KAL. It is Lisa Souza Handtwist Petite sock yarn. I'll be honest-I'm not in love with the color. However, it was free, and I'll hang on to it for a bit to see if a suitable pattern comes up for it.

I also received my 2nd shipment of the Tempted @ 3am sock club, but I won't post a pic for another week or so. I don't want to ruin anyone's surprise.

I like to post teasers when I knit stuff for friends who read my blog. I'm not sure if she'll be able to read it because she's somewhat distracted by a newborn, but I'll throw the tease out anyway.

If you know what it is, don't tell!

Call me crazy if you must

2010-05-30T19:47:00.002-05:00

I don't like wasting my time knitting a pattern if I don't like it. A while back, I decided that I would knit a pair of socks for my childhood best friend (Sarah) for her birthday. She's a big fan of the Lord of the Rings series, so I thought that the Aragorn socks in Tempted Good Grrl in Passion Fruit would be perfect. I quickly finished the first one:

That's when I realized that the sock fit me. It would all be fine and dandy except for the fact that I wear a 6 and she wears an 8.5-9. So, I abandoned the project and started the Skew Socks using Lorna's Laces in Purple Iris.

Before I was too far into the Skew socks, I asked my friend Muriel (aka bffofwendy) to try the Aragorn sock on her foot (the same size as Sarah's). It fit perfectly. I decided to continue on with the Skew socks because I'd already started anyway.

Fast forward to today. I just finished the heel of the first sock. Sarah's birthday was March 26, and I'm behind. Now I have a problem. I don't like the socks.

The pattern is ok; I mean, it's not my favorite but it is an good innovative and cute pattern. I don't like the way the yarn is striping. It just looks really dumb to me, and I don't want to waste my time knitting something that I don't like.

So, I'm going to let them sit in time out for 24 hours and then I'll frog it. In the mean time, I'm going to start on the second Aragorn sock and try to start on the sekret knitting. I've had an awful time trying to do the Turkish CO that the sekret pattern requires.

Now that I've had the Loopy Ewe Lite package for over a week, I'll go ahead and post a picture of the yarn. It is fantastic! It's blue! You know I love blue. Meet my first skein of String Theory Caper Sock in Bye Bye Blues.

I'm in love.

I'm finished!

2010-05-23T15:50:00.004-05:00

I'm finished with my Labyrinth Socks!

The Labyrinth sock pattern (rav link) is available in Wendyknits's book "Socks from the Toe-Up." Here are the details:
Size: Small
Yarn: Tempted Luxe Grrl (cashmere!!)
Needles: US2.5 dpns
Started: May 6, 2010
Finished: May 23, 2010

I love them! I haven't taken them off since I photographed them. Next, the sekret knitting will commence.

Slap to the wrist

2010-05-14T13:15:00.001-05:00

I can officially declare myself a terrible blogger. I'm sorry that I've managed to go 2 weeks without any new posts. I know, it's my blog and I don't have to post, but I feel obligated to because people actually read this thing.

I've finished my scarf and I'm almost done with the first sock of the Labyrinth socks. I've started some socks for a coworker hospitalized in ICU (he's why I've been somewhat absent lately), and I've padded my stash a bit.

I hate to leave you photo-less, but I don't have much on my work computer. Thankfully, I uploaded some stash pics to Ravelry last night before DH hogged the computer until bedtime.

This is the Lacy Grrl I ordered from Tempted. The yarn is so freaking soft, it was really just what I needed to help take my mind off of my coworker's struggles. It's a much deeper purple than what I could photograph, but I could not get the lighting conditions just right. It is destined to become a beautiful Geodesic Cardigan. Gnome and I are going to do it together as a KAL. Let me tell you, finding a copy of Winter/Spring 2010 Knitscene was hard! Interweave is sold out of backissues, and no one seemed to have it in stock. Thankfully, I was able to snag 2 copies at L&B yarn in Norman.

Oh, and I get to do sekret knitting! The recipient reads my blog, so I'll be a mean tease and post a yarn pic. I'm not going to post any project pictures until it has arrived at it's destination. Meet Shibui Sock Finch:

I'm expecting the consolation prize lite sock club shipment to come from The Loopy Ewe today, but I don't know if I should post it this weekend or not. I don't want to ruin anyone's surprise. It's titled "Don't be blue," and I really hope it's blue. Ya'll know that's my favorite color. I love blue.

Knitcroblog day 6:

2010-05-01T09:37:00.000-05:00

Sorry that I missed yesterday's blog post. I didn't see the point of blogging about the chair I knit in unless I could post a picture, and my camera is currently winning a game of hide-and-seek.

Revisit a past F/O

Bring the fortune and life of a past finished project up to the present. Document the current state and use of an object you have knitted or crocheted, whether it is the hat your sister wears to school almost every day, or a pair of socks you wore until they were full of hole. Or maybe that jumper that your did just didn’t like that much…

The FO I'd like to revisit is the first (and so far only) pair of socks I made for my mom. For her entire life, my mom has been badly allergic to wool. I don't really like knitting with cotton, bamboo, or acrylic, so I figured socks for mom were out of the question. I let her fondle some superwash Madelinetosh Sock, and she told me that it might work. So, for the August Socks from the Toe Up KAL on Ravelry, I made the Seaweed socks for mom. Oh, and the KAL started on August 1, and mom's birthday is August 10. I tried very hard to finish them before her birthday, but I ended up doing the ribbing and end-weaving in her living room on the 9th. A full pair of fingering-weight socks in 9 days isn't too bad.

My mom is more of a fan of dark colors, so these really fit the bill. Also, she is not bothered at all by the superwash merino wool, so she'll get another pair of socks for her upcoming birthday. At my last sighting of the socks, they were comfortably keeping her feet warm:

Knitcroblo Day 4: Desired skills

2010-04-29T08:41:00.002-05:00

Is there a skill related to your hobby that you hope to learn one day? maybe you’re a crocheter who’d also like to knit? Maybe you’d like to learn to knit continental, knit backwards, try cables or attempt stranded colourwork.

There are a couple of skills I'd like to acquire in knitting: continental knitting and fair-isle colorwork. I'd like to learn to knit continental so that colorwork will be easier when I try it. I got bored one day earlier this year and started knitting a continental garter swatch, but purling didn't come so easy. To be honest, I haven't had the time to seriously pursue either skill. Between captaining the Team Sprout Ravelympics team while knitting a cardigan in 17 days and trying to catch up on gift knitting, I just haven't found the time yet. I hope to start Stilwell some time this summer.

I made a change this week! It isn't knitting related at all, but I want some pictures in this post. I can't post my knitting until this week is over, so you get pictures of me instead.

Before:

After:

Knitcroblo Day 3: An Enjoyable Knitter

2010-04-28T09:00:00.041-05:00

I think today's topic is actually pretty difficult.

Write about a knitter whose work (whether because of project choice, photography, styling, scale of projects, stash, etc) you enjoy. If they have an enjoyable blog, you might find it a good opportunity to send a smile their way.

I cannot pinpoint 1 single knitter that I can definitively say pleases me the most, so I'll list a few of my favorites and why/how they made the list. Please note that this is not in any particular order.

The Yarn Harlot. I'd bet money that she has made it onto several people's lists. YH makes my list because she's "real." She's not afraid to express her frustrations on her blog, and she doesn't pretend that she never makes mistakes, knitting or otherwise. I think she is a talented knitter, and an overall nice person. She's also short. I'm 4'11" and she's 5'1", and that makes her even more likable in my book (lol).
Stacy Little of Tempted Yarns. Over the past year or so, I've not only had the opportunity to fill my stash up with her lovely yarn, but I've gotten to know Stacy as a person as well. She's smart, wise, and caring. I've gotten to go hang out at her house on several occasions, and there's a good reason I call Tempted Estates my "happy place." Stacy also taught me how to read my knitting, and, in my opinion, that is one of the most valuable knitting lessons.
Muriel. Muriel is Stacy's sister, and they share the blog, so I won't bother linking twice. Muriel has been a valuable asset-she motivates me to knit faster. She too has been there for me over the past year, and I'm so glad she's my friend. I <3 Muriel.
Wendy Johnson. How the hell can she produce patterns so quickly? Someday, I want to be as good of a knitter as she is, and I hope that someday my sarcastic abilities will rise to her level. :)
Sherry of SWAK. She's taught me a lot of knitting tricks/tips/techniques. I wouldn't be a good knitter without her.

The list turned more into a list of which knitters inspire me, but that's ok.

Knitcroblo day 2: Inspirational pattern

2010-04-27T07:56:00.001-05:00

Now that we got the less-than-joyous reason I started knitting out of the way, on to a happier subject.
Today's topic is:

Blog about a pattern or project which you aspire to. Whether it happens to be because the skills needed are ones which you have not yet acquired, or just because it seems like a huge undertaking of time and dedication, most people feel they still have something to aspire to in their craft. If you don’t feel like you have any left of the mountain of learning yet to climb, say so!

The inspirational pattern that I have in the forefront of my mind right now is Stilwell by Jared Flood.

I have 2 reasons that it is inspirational:

Colorwork. Beyond making cute little mini stocking ornaments for Christmas presents last year, I have not done any kind of colorwork. It's more intimidating that this is something that will be worn in public, so if I screw it up, it's going to be visible.
Fit. I currently have a batting average of 0 when it comes to fitting sweaters correctly. My central park hoodie is still a vest because I'm too lazy to seam on the (finished) sleeves. My blackberry cabled cardigan that I made for the Ravelympics looks nice, but it isn't quite as formfitting as I wanted it to be.

I already have the yarn purchased (Jo Sharp Silkroad DK tweed), but I haven't bought the pattern yet. I was originally waiting for it to be available for sale individually, but now I just have too many other things I want to knit that don't necessarily require that I learn something new. I'm not scared of the pattern-I seem to pick up knitting techniques quickly. I'm in a lazy knitting mood these days, so it'll have to wait.

Why I started knitting

2010-04-26T09:00:00.047-05:00

This is the first blog post for knit and crochet blog week! Yay!

Alright, so why did I start to knit? My mother taught me how to knit, crochet, and cross-stitch when I was around age 12. I remember hating knitting so much, mostly because I always dropped stitches. I continued to crochet and cross-stitch for the next several years, and even won some prizes at the yearly fairs while in high school. I didn't pick up knitting again until November 2008.

I really had to think twice about whether I'd be honest and broadcast the real reason or if I'd take the wildcard topic for this one. Now, the primary reason I picked up knitting was because I needed a distraction from another stressful obsession in my life. This isn't something I normally talk about in the knitting world; I try to keep my sets of friends separate because the topic can either be uncomfortable or leads to "advice" that isn't constructive or helpful. My husband and I got married on February 29, 2008 (hello, leap year!), and we decided to start trying to get pregnant in the summer of 2008. It's not as easy as they let on, folks. It's stressful, and if you add in my tendency towards obsession, trying really sucks. So I decided to start knitting again as a way to distract myself. Little did I know that I was just adding another obsession!

I started out with a dishcloth and quickly moved on to the central park hoodie and toe-up socks. Right now I have no less than 7 projects OTN, and I have to fight myself to not cast on any more. As for the baby? We tried for over a year and sought infertility testing (inconclusive, btw) before stopping in October 2009 while I applied to grad school. I didn't get in, so we're going to resume trying again.

I'm now thoroughly addicted to knitting and I've gained a lot of friends in the process! Come back tomorrow to see the next post in the 2010 Knit and Crochet Blog Week!

Sucky day.

2010-04-22T15:39:00.001-05:00

I just got an email from the program director. They're not accepting students due to "faculty and medical director changes." Why they waited until now to decide this, I don't know. I'm upset, angry that they waited, and really disappointed. This is why I don't allow myself to think optimistically. I've asked if I can resubmit my application as is, or if I have to pay the app fees again. I am going to do some volunteer work for a crisis hotline as the genetic counselor I interviewed with suggested.

Tonight might be a margarita night.

Finally finished

2010-04-18T13:31:00.002-05:00

It stresses me out to have too many projects on the needles at one time, especially because I have a chronic case of startitis. Until this morning, I had 4 pairs of socks OTN. Four. I don't know what's possessed me to let it get that bad. I'm not even counting the non-sock projects. I finally finished a pair this morning.

This is my second pair of lace and cable socks from Wendy's Socks from the Toe Up. The yarn is Jknits (that's a rav link because I couldn't get the website to come up) and I won it as part of the August 2009 Wendyknits KAL on Ravelry. These socks are mediums and will go to my bff (who's a huge fan of green).

I've been slowly working on the Skew socks. I had a big problem with using magic loop. I kept getting a very noticeable ladder on the starting side of the sock, and I couldn't figure out if it was a magic loop problem or if I had CO incorrectly. After asking the pattern's creator, it turns out that I just don't like magic loop. I've switched to dpns for now. I'm waiting for 2 circulars to come in from knitpicks so I can try using 2 circs instead.

Finally, I'm very excited to participate in Knitting and Crochet Blog week (you can get info here at Eskimimi's blog). I've read through the topics, and I really think my blog will improve for it. I recently joined a group on Ravelry dedicated to blogging, and I've already thought of some areas to improve my blog.

DFW Fiber fest

2010-04-10T23:08:00.002-05:00

I drove down to Texas to stay at Gnome's house this weekend so that we could go to the DFW Fiber Fest together today. I promised DH that I'd only buy 1 skein of yarn at the festival. I technically kept that promise! I bought some beautiful Malabrigo sock yarn from the Shabby Sheep's booth:

DH didn't say I couldn't go anywhere else that sold yarn, so Gnome and I went down to the Woolie Ewe to look around. I did so well, right up until we were at the register. Then I fell down:

They're both Mochi Plus, and I have 1 skein of the pink one and 2 skeins of the blue/green one. Hey, it was a sale-buy 2, get one 1/2 off. I just couldn't let that go.

On a side note, WTH can't I find an issue of the Winter/Spring 2010 Knitscene? No one seems to have it. I want to knit the Geodesic cardigan, and the pattern is only available in the magazine. I could buy it from Interweave directly, but then I'd have to wait for it to come in the mail.

Change of plans

2010-04-04T21:31:00.002-05:00

My aragorn socks (rav link) that I had intended to be a gift for my childhood bff won't fit her. They do, however, fit me perfectly. I finished the first sock yesterday. I'll just keep them for myself and make the Skew socks for her with some purple/green lorna's laces that I have.

Here's the lorna's laces that I'll use for the Skew socks. The colorway is Purple Iris. Thankfully, the socks appear to be mostly stockinette, so they should go quickly.

On Friday, I'm going to head to Gnome's house so we can go to the DFW Fiber Fest on Saturday. I'm so excited! It'll be a nice roadtrip and I hope to get some yarn for the Wendyknit's KAL Swan Song socks. It's been a while since I got to participate and I'm looking forward to it.

It's a good thing I'm not a werewolf.

2010-03-30T22:28:00.006-05:00

I can see the full moon outside my window right now. If I were a werewolf, we'd have a few problems for sure. I don't have much to show you in the way of knitting; what I do have isn't even a good picture.

I haven't been able to knit as much as I like this week because I have an interview for the Master's in Genetic Counseling program at OU on Friday. I've been trying to prepare myself for it. I have 6 (yes, 6. God help me) 30 minute interviews with various faculty, genetic counselors, and the program director. My attention has been elsewhere for the past few days.

In other news, did you see the progress bar thingy on the right? I love it! I'm so excited that I figured it out. I had some help from a ravelry group. It's sometimes ridiculous how the littlest things can make me happy.

We're headed to the ILs after my interview(s) are over, so this will probably be the last post until Monday or so. Happy Easter!

Aragorn

2010-03-25T20:43:00.004-05:00

I'm about 75% done with the first sock. I really like these socks, but once again I think I might have made a sizing error. I'd love to get it right one of these times. As you can see in the pictures (sorry that they're crappy iPhone pics; I had a bad night that included 8 hrs of driving between 10pm and 7am), the socks fit me well. The problem lies with the fact that I wear a size 6 shoes and the recipient wears a 9. Hopefully blocking fixes all.

I'm sure there are dozens of jokes about the clap...

2010-03-22T20:46:00.006-05:00

so I won't bore you with any more. I will, however, show you my clap. I've even managed to drop down one of the stitches. I'm about 3 rows away from dropping the next one. Dropping the first stitch wasn't as hard as I thought it would be-many of the project pages on Ravelry say that the malabrigo lace is sticky. I didn't really have any trouble.

You all know what my favorite yarn dyer is. Stacy of Tempted Yarns had a trunk show at the LYS on Friday, and of course, I went. I managed to snag some Good Grrl in the Deviant Behavior colorway (why do I keep spelling "behavior" with a "u?" I always have to retype it).

Isn't it pretty?

If I say I'll never knit something, chances are I will.

2010-03-18T22:24:00.005-05:00

I said I'd never knit a shawl. I said I'd never make a sweater. I said that the clapotis is dumb and not for me. What have I done? I have a girasole, a blackberry cabled cardigan, and now, a clapotis.

I finally found a use for my malabrigo lace. This poor yarn has been knit into an ill-fated skirt (frogged), a featherweight cardigan (frogged), and now a scarf (still going strong). The trick with the clapotis is that you intentionally drop stitches so that it has cute gaps. The malabrigo gives it a very light, airy feel. I think it will be dainty enough to work well for professional wear if I get into grad school.

That's one item off of the list!

2010-03-14T15:07:00.007-05:00

I've finished my sweater! I think it's a little bit big while wearing it, but in the picture it doesn't look that bad. Maybe it's ok. It still needs to be blocked to get the collar to lay correctly. I also get to cross #4 off of my new year's resolutions list.I learned several things while knitting this sweater.

I can successfully drop a section of the back down 32 rows to fix a mistake, but I should have done it when I only had to go down 7 rows.
I made a button hole for the first time.
It might have been possible to finish it during the ravelympics if I had learned lesson #1 a bit sooner.
I just finished my first sweater! (Not to be confused with my first sweater I've knit, which is my CPH and only lacks putting the sleeves on)

In totally non-knitting-related news, I got an interview for grad school. I've applied to a genetic counseling master's program, and my interview is April 2. My knitting might slow down a bit because I want to brush up on genetics stuff before the interview. :) One hurdle down! Now I just have to avoid making an idiot of myself in the interview and maybe I'll have a decent chance of getting in.

Ladies and gentlemen, we have... a blob.

2010-03-09T21:02:00.003-06:00

My blackberry cabled cardigan is currently masquerading as a blob. I picked up the stitches again, this time doing 7 of every 8. I came up with 468 stitches, which is close to the number required for the small size. So, I'm taking that number and running with it. I don't know what else to do. I picked up the stitches with US6s (2 sizes smaller than the US8 I did the rest with), and OMG I literally bruised my finger and thumb when I knit the first row with the 8s. The side of my thumb was purple for 2 days.

I took the Aragorn socks to work with me the past 2 days, and I'm getting close to starting the gusset on the first sock. I'm making them for my childhood bff for her birthday (late March). I have a feeling I may be a bit late.

Acquisition

2010-03-03T19:05:00.007-06:00

I'm still working on the Ravelympics sweater. I followed the directions: I tied a yarn every 2 inches, I followed the conventional rule of 3 stitches per 4 rows, I picked up with a smaller needle, and what do I get? 404 sts. I should have ~524. So let's not go there today. I may take out all of the stitches I picked up tonight, or I may not. But let's not talk about the sweater right now, mkay? I'm seriously contemplating just sitting here in my chair, petting my new yarn purchase and drooling. What's that, a new yarn acquisition, you say? My friends, my Wollmeise cherry has been officially popped, and it.feels.great.

You just knew it would be blue, right? If you didn't know that right off, then you don't know me at all. Of course it's blue. Kornblume is such a lovely shade of blue that I don't want to put it down. I may not ever knit with it. What's so special about WM, you ask? You know, I'm not really sure. Beyond that fact that the colors are amazing and that it sells out instantly, it could just be any other yarn. But it's soft, and beautiful, and lovely.

And it is allllll mine.

PS: Did you see what the yarn harlot knit for the knitting olympics? A-freaking-mazing. Go look. Now.

Ravelympics: Day 17

2010-03-01T00:50:00.004-06:00

I didn't finish in time, but I tried my hardest. All I lack from finishing is a 2" ribbing border that goes all the way around; however, the thought of picking up 524 sts was enough to make me throw in the towel (with only an hour left until the deadline).

I'm happy with it, although I think it is a bit too big. I think it will work ok though for layers.

Please ignore the fact that it looks like I have a headless body. My face was in no shape to be photographed today lol.

Ravelympics: Day 15

2010-02-27T16:19:00.004-06:00

Well, I'm pretty far behind schedule. This picture is yesterday's progress (day 15). I obviously haven't finished the sleeves, and they're taking much longer than I thought they would. But, it is only 4:30ish, so there's still time. Who knows if I'll get done? I don't.

Being the captain of Team Sprout has taught me some lessons on leadership. I've learned that you can do your best and still get complaints and nasty comments. I've tried not to take it to heart, but it's easier said than done. I guess all that matters is that I tried my best to make it fun for the team members, and if they aren't happy, it isn't entirely my fault.

I'm going back to knitting. I've got a lot to do.

Ravelympics: Day 14

2010-02-26T16:09:00.002-06:00

Ok, here's the progress from Thursday. I'm about a quarter done with the sleeves. I'm behind my schedule, but I still have wiggle room. :)

Ravelympics: Day 13

2010-02-24T23:11:00.005-06:00

It hasn't happened very often during the Ravelympics that I've posted the current day's progress. Most times I post my progress from the previous day. However, I was so freaking excited that I finished the right front and started the sleeves that I had to share. Look:

I don't know how long the sleeves will take me, but I seriously doubt I'll finish them tomorrow. I guess Friday is a more likely goal. That'll just leave the ribbing, weaving in the gazillion ends, and seaming. I really really want to be done before Sunday because it'll be my 2nd wedding anniversary (I can hardly believe it's already been 2 years!).

So, there you have it, I'm making progress.

Ravelympics: Day 12

2010-02-24T15:57:00.003-06:00

Ok, I'm a little behind schedule already, but I have a bit of wiggle room thanks to Friday being free at work. I'm about 3/4 done with the right front.

Ravelympics: Day 11

2010-02-23T17:50:00.007-06:00

After a minor snafu/issue/heart-stopping problem at the top of the left front, I finished it. I started the right front. Now, the right front gave me a little bit of trouble as well. You only knit part of the chart at the beginning, and then increase every other row until there are enough stitches. The pattern doesn't mention that you should start at the END of the chart, as in knitting the last 10 stitches of the chart first. I think I'm right. I hope so anyway-there's no time to fix it if I'm wrong.

On a (somewhat) hilarious side-note, I realized that I have been reading the charts incorrectly. Luckily, it only matters on the berry stitch section. The stitches are opposite, so that you K3tog on the first 3 stitches on one row and on the last 3 on the opposite row. I read every row right to left, rather than reading the even rows as left to right. Thankfully, the rows are opposites, so I'm just making a mirror image. That's why I could tell where I'd gone down to correct my error.

ETA: Scratch that. I'm not sure I read it wrong. Who knows. Whatevs. lol.

In order to finish on time, I've made a schedule. I'm not sure it's a realistic one, but in order to finish on time, I must adhere to it or do better.

Tues: Finish the right front, start the sleeves (knitting them 2 at a time)

Wed: Sleeves

Thurs: Sleeves/Ribbing

Fri: Ribbing

Sat/Sun: finishing, etc.

Thank god that my bosses will all be gone on Friday. Perhaps I can make up some ground then.

Ravelympics: Day 10

2010-02-22T22:12:00.003-06:00

I made wonderful progress on the left front. :)

I think I'm running out of stuff to say beyond what the progress was. I still have the right front, 2 sleeves, and the ribbing to finish. I'm not sure it's possible to finish on time, but we'll see. The tinking of the middle section may have done me in.

Ravelympics: Day 9

2010-02-21T11:19:00.004-06:00

OMG! I finalllllllyyyyy finished the back. FINALLY. As you can imagine, I did a happy dance around the living room.Then I started the left front section. I got caught up in the thrill of knitting something other than the back, and stayed up until 4am knitting it (ok, season 10 of MASH might have helped a bit too).
::happy dance::

Ravelympics: Day 8

2010-02-20T23:51:00.003-06:00

Ok, here's the progress as of Friday night. I was thoroughly stuck in the black hole that was the armhole section of the back. No matter how many times I measured, it wasn't yet 8".
I'm hurrying to get this posted before midnight because I'm nearly done with day 9's progress lol. I'll post that (exciting) picture tomorrow.

Ravelympics: Day 7

2010-02-19T18:34:00.002-06:00

I'm finished the decreases for the armholes and now I'm just knitting until the armhole is 8.something inches long. I'm trying super hard to keep my momentum and enthusiasm, but it's getting harder and harder. I need to channel Dory from Finding Nemo and just keep knitting, just keep knitting. I'd like to finish the back really soon. I think that the two front pieces won't be too bad since the front is curved. The sleeves may take a bit. Finally, there's an insanely long ribbing border to do. Hopefully I can finish on time.

Ravelympics: Day 6

2010-02-18T00:27:00.002-06:00

Doing something you didn't think you could do is a great feeling. I finished fixing my error in the middle section of the back of the cardigan today. I nearly danced around the apartment, and DH literally came home to me yelling excitedly at the dogs that I had done it. I can still see that something isn't quite right from where I ripped it down, but that's much better than an incredibly obvious ridge in the middle. Here is my post-repair celebratory picture:

I trudged on (after posting my victory on both plurk and ravelry, and possibly texting a picture to several friends), and I am now halfway done with the armhole decreases. I expect to be finished with the armholes tomorrow. I'm not sure how much is left of the back after that, but it can't be too much. Today's ending progress pic:

Ravelympics: Days 4 & 5, a two-for-one edition with a lesson learned

2010-02-16T23:25:00.005-06:00

Day 4

I made a whole lot of progress, and was pretty darn pleased with myself, until I noticed a small problem. Do you see it? I got off on the berry stitch section in the middle.

I originally caught the mistake about 7 rows after I started it, and figured out what had gone wrong. I corrected the problem, and then decided that I could live with the mistake. After all, I didn't have time to waste the time required to fix it, right? I'm knitting a freaking cardigan in 17 days. Time is valuable. This is supposed to be a challenge, and I would find it challenging to leave the mistake there. So, I left it and knitted on for about 20 more rows.

Day 5

The error mocked me all night long. I even dreamt about it (I wish I was kidding). Finally, after a non-knitter pointed out the mistake and asked if that "ridge" was supposed to be there, I decided that I couldn't ignore it. Cue me dropping down 32 rows to get down to the beginning of the error. I'm kind of proud of myself for actually doing it. Now I just have to get back up to the top. It's taking a long time, longer than knitting the pattern takes. If only I had recognized that I would not be able to live with the mistake and had corrected it when I only had 7 rows to fix.

So that's where I am. I'm going to continue to make my way back up to the top. I'll take a picture before bed, but it won't look much different than the picture above.

Ravelympics: Day 3

2010-02-15T17:09:00.003-06:00

I doubt I'll ever post the current day's project pic because I take the picture right before I collapse into bed. I was up until 2:30am, which is why I got a late start today. Anywhoo, here's the progress as of last night on the back of my blackberry cabled cardigan. I just started the bust increases.

Ravelympics: Day 2's progress

2010-02-14T12:58:00.002-06:00

Here's my progress after yesterday's knitting:

Not too shabby, right? I hope to make a lot of progress over the 3-day weekend in order to make up for not being able to knit at work. I'm almost done with the waist decreases; only 2 more to go.

Let the games begin!

2010-02-13T12:11:00.003-06:00

We had our cast-on party for the Ravelympics last night! I was so sleep-deprived and jacked up on mtn dew that the whole party was kind of a blur. I didn't get any pictures, but I've been promised some. I'll post them when I get them.

I've decided that I'm going to post a project picture every day so that I can do one of those speedy slideshow thingys that'll show my project growing. I was too incoherent to take a pic last night, so this is a pic of last night's progress before I started knitting today. I will post another one tonight. I ended up casting on 2.5 times last night-I made it to the second row on the first try before realizing there was a problem (which I think might not have been a problem, but that's another story). On the second time, I didn't leave enough tail to cast on. The third was the charm and is in the pic below.

I'm off to knit my little heart out until it's time to go to Muriel's house for more knitting.

My official excuse: I've been busy

2010-02-07T18:44:00.009-06:00

I've been really busy lately (work=ick), so that's my official excuse for not blogging as frequently as I should. To make up for it, I bring you some progress pictures and some yarn p0rn.

My childhood best friend's birthday is coming up in late March, and she loves LOTR. I decided to make her a pair of Aragorn socks (rav link) using Tempted's Good Grrl in Passion Fruit.

Here's an updated picture of my Mystic Light Shawl. I'm into chart 2 I think. It's been at least 2 weeks since I've knit on it, so I'm not sure where I'm at.

My central park hoodie is closer to being finished. I finished the second button band today, and I still need to seam the sleeves on, find some buttons, sew them on, and crochet quick button loops on the button band. Then I'll be done. Sandy, if you're reading this, be happy.

Now for the yarn pictures. I'm doing the Blackberry Cabled Cardigan (rav link) for the Ravelympics (which starts Friday, btw), and I'm using Knitpicks Swish DK in Garnet Heather.

Shhh, DH doesn't know about this particular purchase. I bought my yarn for Stilwell. It is Jo Sharp Silkroad Tweed. The blue will be the main color and the white will be the contrasting color. The pattern for Stilwell won't be available until April 2010, so it won't be started for a while.

Finally, Tempted did a special dye job for a Myrtle Cardigan KAL (rav link). Here's my yarn! It's good grrl in an unnamed color (I'll update if she gives me a name for it).

I've got tons to do this week. I haven't swatched for my Ravelympics project yet, so that's a must do. I'm normally awful about gauge swatches, but this time I'll only have 17 days to finish it. Confession: I don't think I'll be successful. I'll still give it a good amount of effort though. All other projects will stop from Feb. 12 to Feb 28.

Since the ravelympics start on Friday and I'm the captain of Team Sprout, I imagine there will be quite a few questions. I wonder if I'll actually be able to cast on at the cast on party on Friday night.

I also need to finish the CPH (maybe not buttons, but I'll at least seam the arms on), make progress on the 3 pairs of socks I have OTN, and knock out a few rows of the mystic light shawl. Oh, and I suppose I'll go to work too. Lol.

Mystic light

2010-01-19T22:37:00.002-06:00

Back in November or so, I started my Mystic Light Shawl. Shortly thereafter, I was distracted by holiday knitting and put the poor shawl down. I don't know why, but earlier this week the shawl was demanding to be knitted, so I picked it back up. I'm making fairly decent progress on it-I'm nearly finished with the first chart. Whatcha think?

I think I'm going to end up giving this to my mom as a late Christmas/early Mother's day present. She likes dark colors, so it is right up her alley. Lately, she's been getting cold easier, so hopefully this will help a little.

Not much else has progressed in the my little land of knitting. I've been knitting a row here and there on my green lace & cable socks.

First FO of 2010!

2010-01-12T17:58:00.005-06:00

Meet Odessa (rav link)!

Man did she try to kick my butt. For such a cute little hat, you'd think it would be easy. There's nothing wrong with the pattern. I simply cannot judge how much yarn I have to work with. I had 1 full skein of Tempted Luxe grrl (cashmere!!!). I used a little more than half of it to make my Augusta fingerless gloves. Ever the enabler, Muriel (aka bffofwendy) assured me that I had enough yarn to make the hat. So, I cast on on Saturday. The pattern suggests you knit in pattern until 5.5" from the CO edge. I know I have a small head, so I knit 5.25" instead. I got 3 freaking decrease rows from the end and ran out of yarn. I tried to frog it back, but I didn't have the patience and frogged the whole thing instead. I CO again on Sunday, and this time I knitted for 4.75". See that little bit of yarn on the right side of the pic? That is all I have left.

Olympics and other stuff

2010-01-09T10:41:00.003-06:00

I've started a Ravelympics team called Team Sprout, and we already have 11 or so members! I'm trying to be a good captain by being informative and all that jazz. The whole point is to pick a project that is challenging to you, and that type of thing is different for every person. I'm really excited about the Ravelympics. I'm going to be a bit crazy here and try the blackberry cabled cardigan (photo from Rav):

I'm going to use Knitpicks Swish DK for this one because I just don't want to spend a ton of money. I'm going to do Stilwell with Jo Sharp (did I mention that I found out that the pattern will be available in April?), and that's going to be about $100 or so. Therefore, I'm going with the cheap stuff. I could go cheaper and use the Knitpicks Telemark yarn (100% peruvian wool), which would be a whole $30, but at $50 total, I'll splurge for the superwash Swish. I'm going to use the Garnet Heather colorway. See, I'm challenging myself. Just getting away from blue is a challenge for me.

I've started an entrelac scarf with my blue malabrigo worsted. If you remember, I originally used this yarn for my owls sweater, and it striped so oddly that I frogged the sweater in frustration. I think it does a much better job in entrelac. See?

Entrelac is not nearly as hard as I thought it would be. It's only a bunch of short rows and picking up stitches. Easy peasy.

I'm adding another resolution to my list. I need to learn to knit continental style. I am a thrower. Throwing is holding the yarn in your right hand, and continental is holding it the left hand. I tried to be all clever and start a dishcloth that had both knits and purls (and I used cotton yarn), but I ended up tying my fingers together. So, I went and grabbed some boring wool yarn from the stash and I've just been knitting along. I still haven't gotten my gauge standardized because I keep forgetting which way to hold the yarn. I'll get it eventually. I need to be able to knit both ways so that fair isle will be easier.

My 2010 knitting resolutions

2009-12-31T20:19:00.004-06:00

2010 will be my second full year as a knitter (I started Nov. 2008). I've made a list of knitting goals/resolutions in order to challenge myself a bit more. Without further ado, here's the list:

1. Knit a fair isle pattern.

Stilwell is what is on the agenda (photo from brooklyntweed's website); I'll probably end up using Jo Sharp Silk Road DK Tweed instead of the Classic Elite Portland tweed called for in the pattern. I am under the impression that the individual patterns from Brooklyntweed's last book of patterns will be available separately for purchase sometime in January, so I'm waiting for it to be available before I buy the yarn.

2. Design my own pattern.

I'd like to read some design books before I venture out into this (I don't want to be someone whose patterns are crap because I'm inexperienced). I don't really know what kind of patterns I'll make yet.

3. Knit something without errors.

None of the larger items I have knit to-date has been 100% correct. I'd like to fix that.

4. Complete a sweater.

I started my central park hoodie on Dec. 14, 2008. It isn't done yet. I frogged my Owls sweater.

5. Complete something using the entrelac technique.

Entrelac is a knitting technique that creates diamonds. It kinda makes a basketweave pattern. Here's a brief description.

In terms of knitting, 2009 was a pretty good year for me. I went from barely able to knit to turning out a full pair of socks in 9 days. I made a lot of new and awesome knitting friends that I am very grateful to have. 2010 should be entertaining as well-I'm the captain of a Ravelympics Team for one thing. I can't wait to see what the year holds-it will be awesome! Yay for 2010!

La digitessa

2009-12-31T11:11:00.003-06:00

I wanted to knit a sock pattern that would both challenge me and wow non-knitters (can you blame me?), so I picked La digitessa by Yarnissima. I started it Christmas Eve Eve, and I'm mostly done with the first sock.The traveling stitches make a pretty wave pattern. The yarn is Tempted Good Grrl in Foliage, and I had a hard time photographing the exact color. The first picture is closest.

I also decided to add on to my stash storage, since the yarn was spilling out in the floor. I'm going to add another cube where the wedding pic is soon.

I'm writing a post about my knitting resolutions list, so that's why this one is so brief. Happy New Year!

Stash building

2009-12-19T16:46:00.002-06:00

I finally made some time to knit something for myself, and I happen to love it! This is the first of a pair of Augusta gloves knit in Tempted Luxe girl (cashmere ::gasp!::). I really really love it. There is one mistake in the gloves, and I'll have to debate about whether or not it is big enough or noticeable enough for me to fix it. I'll probably end up doing something to minimize it because a knitter can likely pick it out immediately. However, that does not detract from the loveliness of the fingerless glove:

While I may have conveniently used disliked stash yarn for gifts, that hasn't really stopped me from building up other aspects of my (growing) stash. Pretty much all I've bought lately is Tempted yarn, although I did buy some Del Sur for a hat and some Lang Jawoll and Araucania sock yarn for those stocking ornaments.

First up, the sock yarn. It's all Good Grrl. This is passion fruit:

Mocha that will eventually be DH's christmas socks (I haven't started and Christmas is 6 days away!):

Foliage that will be my next pair of socks for myself:

I won the progress pic portion of the Cables on your Chest KAL on the 3am enchantments board on Ravelry, and Keri sent me this freaking awesome and cute Petite KIP bag and Stacy sent some coordinating pink glam:

I need to get back to knitting. I have 4 pairs of Christmas socks to make, and only half of one sock done. Thankfully, the recipients are understanding since my 11 day vacation starts on Christmas eve. I'm ready for the holidays to be over.

FO factory

2009-12-18T20:37:00.008-06:00

It seems like all I do lately is knit for Christmas, which is why I haven't blogged. I didn't want to give the secret away lol. I'll show you a quick hits parade of what I've churned out lately, and then I'll save tomorrow's post for the one thing I've been able to make for myself and some awesome goodies I've gotten lately. Without further ado, I present the the FO parade (that's finished object, to the uninitiated):

Pretty little stocking ornaments! The middle one is the first time I've ever done colorwork, and it seemed to turn out ok. Pattern here.

Fingerless gloves! Rav link here. I used some Paton's SWS. Christmas is such a good time to stash-bust! I don't really like the Paton's SWS because it is a bit itchy and it sheds like a mofo, so I got rid of it via gift.

I jumped on the French Press Slipper bandwagon. This was my first pair, and I have to make another tomorrow. After that, I don't think I'll felt anything for a while! I live in an apartment complex, and we have community washers. I don't think I could turn back the dial often enough to felt them. Therefore, I drive my happy butt all the way to Guthrie to use Muriel's washer.

Another stashbuster. This is the Quickie Cowl in Berroco Foliage. Pattern here. I like the yarn's color, but the splittyness drives me crazy.

Finally, a scarf, and yet another way to get rid of yarn I'll never use. This is where I may have experienced what the Yarn Harlot calls "falling down" at the yarn store. When I was told by the store employee that this yarn would be discontinued, I promptly bought the 4 skeins they had on hand. That was last March, and I haven't even used them until now. The pattern is Peasy scarf, and here's the Rav link.
Tomorrow (or Sunday, knowing me lol), I'll post a pic of the pretty gloves I've made with Tempted Luxe, some of the Tempted yarn I've recently acquired, and the 3am enchantment bags I've procured.

Oh, and one last thing. I GOT INTO THE TEMPTED @ 3AM CLUB! Yes, that required yelling.

Crazy busy

2009-12-06T10:46:00.002-06:00

I've been really busy with Christmas knitting and I was sick for a few days to top it off, so I apologize for my lack of blogging. Wanna see the cutest thing ever?

They are mini ornament mittens! Adorable, no? Here's where I got them. I'm making a crap-ton of them for mini Christmas presents. I love them! (that yarn is leftover Tempted Bah Humbug)

I'm also tempermental

2009-11-25T14:39:00.002-06:00

I think I'm going to frog the sweater. I just don't like the striping, but I didn't like to give up that much progress just like that. I asked a few friends for their opinions on the subject, and everyone voted for frog. I'll let it sit a day or two, and meanwhile, it's back to the socks for me.

Well, I never said I was monogamous.

2009-11-24T18:12:00.002-06:00

I'm afraid that I am going to have to abandon my beautiful socks for a little while, much to my disappointment. I have another project with a much closer deadline. I decided to knit the Owls sweater for the cables on your chest KAL, and the deadline is next Monday. This is all I have:

So I need to get crackin'.

I have a new MO for holiday knitting

2009-11-22T23:54:00.003-06:00

Remember that pic I posted yesterday of the sock? I just finished it. FINISHED.IT. Holy crap, that's a personal record for sure. I watched 3.5 MASH DVDs this weekend, and knit like the wind. I have decided that I will be doing all of my holiday knitting to a MASH soundtrack, effective immediately.

Please forgive the crappy iPhone pic. I'm too lazy to get out the ol' digital cam. I gotta go CO the second sock-it would be a shame to fall victim to second sock syndrome after setting a new record lol.

A cowl and a sock walked into a bar...

2009-11-21T17:16:00.004-06:00

My nifty little Christmas knitting deadline countdown informs me that I have only 33 days to finish my holiday knitting, so I've been knitting like a fiend. That doesn't mean I can't be distracted by pretty shiny new projects for myself though. A week ago Thursday, the lovely Muriel (bffofwendy to those in the plurk/ravelry world) decided that we should do a friendship KAL. She had secretly gone and bought 2 skeins of Malabrigo silky merino, and all we had to do was pick a pattern. I would never have picked a cowl, because, to be honest, I thought that cowls look a little ridiculous and stuffy. With only 1 skein of yarn each, we had to pick something relatively small, so we ultimately decided on the Noble cowl (rav link).

I knit a little bit faster than Muriel does, so I gave her a decent two day head start. It's not my fault that she frogged her progress and started over. Anyway, I finished it on Tuesday. A picture was demanded of me wearing it, so I'll post it in all of its iSight awfulness. I think it looks pretty good on me despite the camera:

I decided to knit a slightly smaller size than the pattern called for by removing 1 pattern repeat. I also didn't knit the last 14 rows, because I am pretty small and didn't want to suffocate in the darn thing. Here it is in properly photographed glory:

Moving on to holiday knitting, I'm knitting a pair of socks for a friend for Christmas. She has no idea that she's getting socks, so I hope she'll like them. I'm knitting Wendy's Lace and Cable Socks using Tempted's Bah Humbug Good Grrl.

I've had to frog the past 2 socks I've tried to knit because I simply didn't like the pattern. It is a wonderful breath of fresh air to knit a pattern that I love. I started the pattern portion of the sock last night, and I've already completed 2 full pattern repeats! I hope these will knit up quickly. I'm slightly worried that I won't be able to give them away.

On my holiday knitting to-do list:

I need to finish my Owls sweater by Nov 30th in order to be eligible for prizes in the KAL. I have 1 sleeve left before I start the owls portion (circles the shoulders). Cross your fingers that I can find the motivation to finish it.
I wanted to knit a pair of socks for Mom. I have the yarn, but I'm not sure what pattern to do.
DH should probably get a pair too, although hopefully he'll understand if I'm not finished with his until January.
I'd like to knit an Odessa hat for another friend, but I'm not sure.

Happy (slightly early) Thanksgiving, and good luck to anyone else under a knitting deadline.

I have excellent frogging skills

2009-11-13T10:05:00.002-06:00

I was knitting along, minding my own business. I worked on Mom's mock cable socks at SnB last night. They looked like they might be too small even though I went by the length. I continued to knit anyway. I then proceeded to FUBAR the heel flap (ok, I could have just ripped out the heel and fix it, but I was already frustrated with the sock, so I declared it FUBAR). Then I tried the sock on, and it fit me perfectly. That is all fine and dandy, except for the minor detail that Mom's feet are 3 sizes bigger than mine. I had initially planned to only frog down past the gusset and just make the socks longer. After long consideration (a whole 30 seconds), I just decided to frog the whole sock. I wasn't really happy with it anyway (it almost never takes me a month and a half to knit half of a sock). I looked through Wendy's book last night, and I found a few patterns that could be cute with the yarn I'm using (Tempted Good Grrl Circle of Friends). I guess I'll be starting fresh this weekend.

I'm off to spend the weekend at Tempted's house again. I love going to my happy place. :) I hope everyone has a good weekend!

Stan's done!

2009-11-10T18:46:00.007-06:00

Last night I finished my Stacy Shawl (aka Stan)! It took me approximately a week and a half. It obviously still needs the ends weaved in and blocking, but I am finished nonetheless.

What am I going to do next, you may ask? I am going to cast on another shawl, of course. I also have a lot of Christmas knitting to do, and I have to finish my Owls sweater by Thanksgiving.

Moving right along

2009-11-06T17:42:00.004-06:00

Here's the progress so far on my stacy shawl. I've just started chart C. I'd like to think that I'm halfway done, but since each row is longer than the last one, I'm fairly certain I'm only 1/3 done. I had to switch over to a 47" cable just to stretch it out enough to be able to photograph it nicely.

Here's a closeup of the pattern:

I can barely believe that November has already arrived. Last night I realized that my owls sweater for the cabled sweater KAL is due on Thanksgiving, and I am totally guilty of neglecting it for any pretty new distraction to come along. I keep thinking of Christmas presents for everyone, but I'm beginning to realize that I cannot make everything I want in time. I should have started a long time ago I think.

PSA: My stacy shawl has been christened "Stan."

My Stacy

2009-11-01T19:33:00.006-06:00

Here is my progress on my stacy shawl. I just finished chart A, and I am loving it. The shawl is sold as a kit-you get the pattern and 2 skeins of Tempted Luxe Grrl. I love the simplicity of the pattern and the softness of the yarn. The colorway is Sidra. The only change I made was to do a twisted long-tail cast on instead of a provisional cast on, so one small part of the border will be thicker than the rest, but I can live with that.

I always said I would never knit a shawl...

2009-10-28T20:49:00.005-05:00

...and then I started the girasole. It took me 4 months and 1 day start-to-finish, although I did stop knitting on it for about a month and a half or so while I waited for more yarn (never start a large project without enough yarn btw).

Tempted graciously dyed more yarn for me, and she tried her best to match the original yarn, but it wasn't quite right. We had decided that I would knit the shawl and then overdye it to make the color uniform.

I kinda like the color as is. I'll let other people look at it before I make a final decision, but that spiraling is freaking awesome.

So much for not making shawls-now I have to decide if I want to make the mystic light shawl or the stacy shawl next.

Happy Birthday and (almost) knitiversary to me

2009-10-21T21:32:00.002-05:00

My 26th birthday was on the 14th, and my 1 year knitiversary will be in November (I don't remember the exact date, so I just declare the whole month a holiday). Two of my great friends, Logan and Cody (blogerroo), sent me a combination birthday/knitiversary present.

Those awesome socks are the Summer Sliding socks (rav link) in my absolute favorite yarn Tempted Good Grrl. The yarn he sent me is Dye Dreams Twinkle Toes, a 50% merino/50% tencel blend sock yarn in the colorway Caribbean. He bought it at... wait for it.... RHINEBECK! I've totally got to go there some day.

A great big thank you goes to Logan and Cody! I love ya'll.

Those pictures I promised...

2009-10-12T22:37:00.005-05:00

I finally pulled out my camera tonight. This is my owls sweater. I just started the short rows to dip the yoke, so I guess I'm about 65% done with it. This is for a KAL, and I have until Thanksgiving to finish it. I think I can do it, even though the striping pattern in the yarn is driving me crazy.

I got a hold of some of Tempted's Luxe yarn. It is a cashmere blend! The colorway is Emergency. I love it. I'm going to make a pair of fingerless gloves for myself.

As you may know, I am participating in the Wendyknits KAL. You knit a pair of socks in a month and they draw a random person out of those who finished to receive prizes. I won this skein of J.knits sock yarn for my August Seaweed socks. I'm not sure what socks I'm going to make with it yet.

I've decided to make a mystic light shawl, and I have 3 skeins of Tempted bad grrl to make it with. Isn't it pretty? There's blue and red in it, overdyed with chestnut. I really want to start the shawl, but I need to finish my girasole first.

Finally, here are my mock cable socks. I can safely say that these are for my mom for Christmas since she doesn't read my blog anyway.

I'm such a bad blogger...

2009-10-12T13:08:00.002-05:00

I've knit a lot on several different projects recently, but I never seem to remember my camera before it gets dark outside. I've wanted to try taking more pictures during the day so that the colors come out better.

I stayed the weekend at Tempted's house (again) with her sister Muriel to help her get ready to post the Stacy Shawl kits on her etsy store. Wendyknits designed a shawl and knit it using 2 skeins of Tempted Luxe. This is the link to Wendy's post, this is the link to Stacy's post (last 2 posts), and here's the link to the etsy store. The shawl is so pretty and the yarn is the softest evah! (Psst-its cashmere!) Several of my friends are already knitting it or will be shortly.

I did get a lot of knitting time in. I managed to work on my Girasole, but Stacy had to help me a lot. Anyway, here is a picture of Muriel and I holding our shawls. She seems to think that she will catch up with me, but she is sadly mistaken lol.

I'm finally out of the insanity that is chart D. It is just a 4 stitch pattern repeat, but I really should have been using stitch markers. That's part of the reason Stacy had to help me so much.

I'm over halfway done with the Owls sweater, and I've started the Mock Cable socks for the Oct. KAL. They will eventually be a christmas present for my mom.

My Owls sweater

2009-10-01T15:38:00.003-05:00

Here's my owls sweater to date:

I'm finally getting somewhere! I originally started it with some alpaca worsted, but I don't think the yarn is really worsted weight (it was bought from a local farm in Lancaster, Pa). So, I changed to Paton's Classic wool. Then, I had the opportunity to procure several skeins of Malabrigo worsted in my favorite color. I started over for the third time (making the s/m 36" version). Then, I realized the pattern called for bulky weight yarn. So I started over for the 4th time, this time making the 38" M size. Everything was going fine and dandy until I realized I had done the waist decreases at the wrong stitch marker, which led to another frogging. Now I've made up all of my backwards progress, and am finally making some headway. I just hope it fits.

Knit with care

2009-09-29T08:11:00.002-05:00

Trilobite socks: frogged. Lace Leaf scarf: frogged. Owls sweater: frogged about 30 rows. All within 24 hours. Do you see a trend here? 2 were intentional, the owls frogging was not. Well, it was, but the mistake that prompted the frogging was not. I apparently cannot distinguish the difference between marker A and marker B, and had done several decrease rows at the wrong marker.

But back to the frogging. It makes me scared to knit on anything I like. I want to make some serious progress on my Girasole, but a frogging there would be catastrophic (and would likely be a tinking just because I'm scared to partially frog lace). Hopefully this theme to my knitting will end soon.

Heh.

2009-09-28T00:23:00.002-05:00

See that sock one post down? I frogged it when I was maybe 2 rows away from being finished. I like the pattern, but I wasn't pleased with my interpretation. It was too big, and I screwed it up a few times. Also, I'm moody, and the frogging was therapeutic. Took all of 2 minutes.

Quick update

2009-09-24T23:28:00.005-05:00

I'm knitting like crazy on my trilobite socks. The KAL deadline is 11:59pm on Sept 30, which is next Wednesday. This is the first sock, and I'm about halfway through the gusset. I think its possible to finish, and I'm not going to skimp on the leg (it'll be at least 4" long). The crazy part is that I started the darn things last week. I always wait until the last minute!

Finished the socks & stash building

2009-09-16T17:06:00.003-05:00

I finally finished DH's Diamond Gansey socks. He wanted ankle socks, so I only did 1 pattern repeat on the leg before I started the ribbing. He seems to like them, and I've heard that once you wear hand-made socks you'll never go back to store-bought socks again. I want more yarn, so I really hope its true lol.

PS-My aunt knit that blanket DH has his feet on. I love it.

This weekend, one of the girls decided to do some stash-busting. I came home with 6 skeins of worsted-weight malabrigo (its blue!!). It is destined to become my owls sweater (I benched the Patons on this one).
I also grabbed some cute (also blue) sock yarn, but I don't remember the brand. I may have been drunk when I purchased it lol-I'll post a pic when I figure out what it is.

ETA: I think it is KPPPM

:)

2009-09-13T22:35:00.003-05:00

I think this was the best weekend I've had in recent history. I usually get a tension headache every day, and I haven't had one since Friday. I am so ridiculously relaxed! Wonderful! I'll post pics of yarny goodness tomorrow. I made a new friend and became closer to 3 others.

So.freaking.excited

2009-09-11T08:11:00.002-05:00

I am going to spend the weekend with some friends at Tempted's house! We're going to knit, dye yarn, and have tons of fun. I'm afraid this work day is going to take forever! I'll be leaving with my friend Muriel around 3-4ish, and my knitting friend Courtney will meet us up there. Wooot! Catch ya'll on the flip side.

Whew! I survived camping with my in-laws

2009-09-08T22:45:00.003-05:00

My DH is Native American (Choctaw tribe). Every year, we camp out with his family at the Choctaw Labor Day Festival, and this year was no different. Hanging out with the in-laws for 4 days can be a bit rough though, so I took 5 knitting projects with me. I am a relatively new knitter, and the only time they've seen me knit was at Christmas last year while I was trying to finish a scarf for my mom.

Before I even left, I decided that some new yarn was a great way to make the weekend better. So, after knitting at SWAK, I bought some brand new yarn. It is bright red, but my camera decided not to capture the true color. I'll have to try again. The yarn is Knitty Bits 2 Sock yarn, and I'm unsure of the colorway. It is likely destined to be Trilobite socks.

I finished Fred's Owlings mittens a few weeks ago, but I wanted to make sure she got them before I showed them off. She did managed to guess what I was making and therefore got to see them, but she didn't see the finished product complete with seedbead eyes until she opened the box today.

I gave up on trying to finish the diamond gansey socks before the KAL for August ended. I actually could have finished them in time if I hadn't forgotten about them for a week or so while I was distracted by other pretty projects. DH specifically requested ankle socks, so while I don't think it is very attractive for this pattern, I only put 1 pattern repeat on the leg before starting the ribbing. I have one sock finished, but I don't have a picture of it yet. Here is a progress pic from this weekend (I had Wendyknits' book Socks from the Toe-Up spiral bound at Kinkos to make using it easier):

All in all, it was a good weekend. My main fear was being taken advantage of and being used as a babysitter, but I only had to keep the 1 month old nephew alive for 5 minutes while one of DH's nieces took two more kids to the bathroom. I am happy to report that I even touched the kid's arm and nothing bad happened lol. That is progress.

My favorite comment from his family regarding my knitting came from my FIL: "Are you still doing that?" My reply was a faux-cheerful, "Yes."

Lesson learned

2009-08-27T10:05:00.002-05:00

I would like to share a lesson I learned yesterday. I use an iPhone app for a project row counter, and it currently has 7 projects listed. I took my diamond gansey socks to the LYS last night. I opened the project counter for the socks, and started knitting. My counter said I should start on row 6. I noticed that the diamonds didn't look quite right, but I was experiencing an awesome sugar high and didn't think anything of it (a mtn dew and a jelly-filled donut, if you're wondering).

Finally, I admit that something is wrong. Diamonds don't normally have 6 points. I had copied the chart for the socks into excel so that I didn't have to carry the book around, and I figured that I simply copied the chart incorrectly and that I am incapable of reading said chart. After knitting 2 rows, I carefully frogged the pattern rows back to the beginning (that's about 7 rows), only to realize that I had opened the project for Fred's surprise project instead of the diamond gansey project. I started knitting row 6 when I should have been knitting row 8.

Lesson: If you're going to use technology to make knitting easier, at least make sure you open the right project or you'll get to do unnecessary frogging.

Big update

2009-08-24T19:57:00.009-05:00

In case you haven't noticed, I tend to post in spurts. I'll post 2 or 3 days in a row, and then accidentally let a week slip by without a peep. I figured someone would want an update, so I'll give it you. You'd think I'd be smart and spread the progress report over a few posts.

First up is the elefante for Fred's D. I've been done with her for over a month, but have been procrastinating on doing the eyes and tail. I finished on Saturday.

Details:

Yarn: Berroco Comfort

Pattern: Elefante by Susan Anderson

Since I like D, I thought she'd like some booties too.

Details:

Pattern: Saartje's Bootees (link goes to blog-pattern on right)

Yarn: Koigu Painter's Palette Premium Merino (KPPPM) in P713.

Next up is a secret I'm making for Fred. Since I'm a tad bit evil, I'm going to post a teaser. If you know what it is, don't ruin the secret.

In the last post, I said that I had decided to join a cabled sweater KAL (rav link, tempted link). This is my progress to date. I had originally decided to use the worsted weight alpaca that I bought on vacation, but when I swatched, the yarn is possibly not worsted. So, I'll just use up my paton's classic wool instead.

Details:

Pattern: Owls by Kate Davies (rav link)

Yarn (for now): Patons Classic Wool

The second sock pattern of the Wendyknits Socks from the Toe-Up KAL is the Diamond Gansey socks. I busted my butt to get the first pair of the month done, and it kinda looks like I'm not going to finish this one by next Monday. But, alas, they are for my DH and I'll finish them anyway, eventually.

Details:

Pattern: Diamond Gansey Socks

Yarn: Tempted Good Grrl in Moonlight

I've really slowed down on knitting the girasole, but I'll throw in a progress picture anyway.

Finally, this is what 2 mini schnauzers look like when you neglect grooming. I'm going to have to do it sometime this week before they go to their grandma's house for labor day weekend.

What is the deal?

2009-08-16T23:16:00.003-05:00

Just today, I've CO a secret project and I was "convinced" to join a cabled sweater KAL. This has to stop! I won't tell you much about the secret project beyond the fact that it uses this Cascade 220 yarn:

For the KAL, I'm going to do the Owl s sweater. I had planned to save that for the YH's knitting Olympics in February, but I have another sweater in mind. I'm going to use this yarn:

Sheesh.

I just keep CO

2009-08-14T13:58:00.004-05:00

Since I finished those socks, I have CO a scarf and the diamond gansey socks (rav link) for DH. I'm using Lorna's laces (colorway is Franklin's Panopticon) for the scarf and Tempted Good Grrl (link goes to my stash-colorway Moonlight) for the socks.

Here's the scarf so far:

Please forgive the stoned look on the visible part of my face. Its is 2:30am CST after all.

Almost made it

2009-08-10T17:33:00.004-05:00

I almost made it. I ended up knitting the ribbing on the cuff of the second sock, binding off, and sewing in ends in my mom's living room yesterday. I made a mistake and did an extra pattern repeat in the gusset of the second sock, making it about o.5" longer than the other. Luckily, Mom said one of her feet is longer than the other because of arthritis in her toes. Guess that worked out well.

The details:

Cast on: 8-1-09 @ 7pm CST using Judy’s magic CO. I CO 22 sts and did 3 increase rows before starting the increase pattern in the pattern.
Finished: 8-9-09 @ 5:30pm CST in my mom’s living room. lol.
Heel: slip stitch
Bind off: sewn bind off
Yarn: Madelinetosh Tosh Sock in Oxblood
Needles: US Size 2 dpns
Size made: Medium

Birthday socks progress

2009-08-06T22:01:00.004-05:00

I have had a minimum of sleep over the past week. We are not going to mom's house until Sunday, so I'll have an extra day to knit (thank God!). I was up until 4am knitting this morning.

Biomaj5

First FO of 2012

Even-numbered years are always better

Merry Christmas!

Christmas is coming, whether I like it or not.

Stash Expansion Extravaganza

Stilwell

An FO and Startitis

I have a good excuse...

What was that? I couldn't hear you.

Estes Park recap

The FO happydance

Destressifying my knitting

Holy overdue update post, batman!

Holy crap I made yarn

As if I don't have enough hobbies already

On A Roll **SWAP SHAWL SPOILER POST**

Giant Mansocks of Doom

Make It Work!

Parade of Shame

Happy place recap and sometimes I lie.

I have a cowl and I'm headed to my happy place. I dare you to try to stop me.

2010 down, 2011 to go.

Done and done and done

I think it wants to stay

FOapalooza

Colors!

I refuse to knit on my citron shawl any longer.

Baby stuff

Progress is slow

I finished, and I'm preoccupied

Geodesic cardi, new yarn, and a tease

Call me crazy if you must

I'm finished!

Slap to the wrist

Knitcroblog day 6:

Knitcroblo Day 4: Desired skills

Knitcroblo Day 3: An Enjoyable Knitter

Knitcroblo day 2: Inspirational pattern

Why I started knitting

Sucky day.

Finally finished

DFW Fiber fest

Change of plans

It's a good thing I'm not a werewolf.

Aragorn

I'm sure there are dozens of jokes about the clap...

If I say I'll never knit something, chances are I will.

That's one item off of the list!

Ladies and gentlemen, we have... a blob.

Acquisition

Ravelympics: Day 17

Ravelympics: Day 15

Ravelympics: Day 14

Ravelympics: Day 13

Ravelympics: Day 12

Ravelympics: Day 11

Ravelympics: Day 10

Ravelympics: Day 9

Ravelympics: Day 8

Ravelympics: Day 7

Ravelympics: Day 6

Ravelympics: Days 4 & 5, a two-for-one edition with a lesson learned

Ravelympics: Day 3

Ravelympics: Day 2's progress

Let the games begin!

My official excuse: I've been busy

Mystic light

First FO of 2010!

Olympics and other stuff

My 2010 knitting resolutions

La digitessa

Stash building

FO factory

Crazy busy

I'm also tempermental

Well, I never said I was monogamous.

I have a new MO for holiday knitting

A cowl and a sock walked into a bar...

I have excellent frogging skills

On A Roll SWAP SHAWL SPOILER POST