Purl Necklace

Memes

2007-06-03T07:31:00.001-07:00

Oh, that's right. I have a blog. Forgot there for a minute. Actually, I started a new job and haven't had much time for anything, but I have some FOs to show off when I get a second to take some pictures!

Now, Twinsanity tagged me for five random things about me. So here we go.

1. My first car was a Honda Accord, which subsequently got the front and back end smashed in, so it was dubbed the Honda Accord-ian. *rim shot*

2. I know how to hand toss pizza dough. When I was 18, that skill got me a job. I went to an interview at a mall pizza place, and my interview consisted of them asking me to make them a hand-tossed pizza. That job sucked. Moving on!

3. I can read stenotype. /TPAOER /PHAOEU /AU /SUPL /SKEULZ !!!!!

4. In my sophomore year in high school, I failed English but passed Spanish 3 with a 100%. Figure that one out. I then went on to use English and grammar in my job and call myself an expert. Ha.

5. I worked out with Franko Harris. Whoopdedoo.

Now, this other one. I just wanted to do it. Nobody tagged me. Is that against Meme rules? Who cares. Bold is what I have done, italics is what I plan on.

Afghan
I-cord
Garter stitch
Knitting with metal wire
Shawl
Stockinette stitch
Socks: top-down
Socks: toe-up
Knitting with camel yarn
Mittens: Cuff-up
Mittens: Tip-down
Hat
knitting with silk
Moebius band knitting
Participating in a KAL
Sweater
Drop stitch patterns
Knitting with recycled/secondhand yarn
Slip stitch patterns
Knitting with bananafiber yarn
Domino knitting (=modular knitting)
Twisted stitch patterns
Knitting with bamboo yarn
Two end knitting
Charity knitting
Knitting with soy yarn
Cardigan
toy/doll clothes
Knitting with circular needles
Baby items
Knitting with your own handspun yarn
Slippers
Graffitti knitting (knitting items on, or to be left on the street)
Continental knitting
Designing knitted garments
Cable stitch patterns (incl. Aran)
Lace patterns
Publishing a knitting book
Scarf
Teaching a child to knit
American/English knitting (as opposed to continental)
Knitting to make money
Button Holes
Knitting with alpaca
Fair Isle knitting
Norwegian knitting
Dying with plant colours
Knitting items for a wedding
Household items (dishcloths, washcloths, tea cosies…)
Knitting socks (or other small tubular items)on two circulars
Olympic knitting
Knitting with someone elses handspun yarn
Knitting with dpns
Holiday related knitting
Teaching a male how to knit
bobbles
Knitting for a living
Knitting with cotton
Knitting smocking
Dying yarn
Steeks
Knitting art
Knitting two socks (or other small tubular items) on two circulars simultaneously
Fulling/felting
Knitting with wool
Textured knitting
Kitchener BO
Purses/bags
Knitting with beads
Swatching
Long Tail CO
Entrelac
Knitting and purling backwards
Machine knitting
Knitting with selfpatterning/selfstriping/variegating yarn
Stuffed toys
Knitting with cashmere
Darning
Jewelry
Knitting with synthetic yarn
Writing a pattern
Gloves
Intarsia
Knitting with linen
Knitting for preemies
Tubular CO
Freeform knitting
Short rows
Cuffs/fingerless mits/armwarmers
Pillows
Knitting a pattern from an online knitting magazine
Rug
Knitting on a loom
Thrummed knitting
Knitting a gift
Knitting for pets
Shrug/bolero/poncho
Knitting with dog/cat hair
Hair accessories
Knitting in public

About that sock nirvana...

2007-05-01T19:20:00.000-07:00

Frogged. The yarn was just not solid enough to show the pattern the way it should be shown. So I started the Bayerische again in some maroon solid yarn. This time I was careful to knit the row before the hellish increase row extra, extra loose, and it was much easier.

But I did finish my Pomatomi! Pictures whenever it quits fucking raining. After finishing them, I really wanted to get back to some wooly wool. Don't get me wrong, I do love the merino/tencel, but it's just not very give-y. I need a break from it. That was another reason the Bayerische got frogged.

At least I have blog nirvana. I really do like the new look. I am forever in Ms. A's debt.

A little late for YPF

2007-04-21T07:58:00.000-07:00

But here is some yarn porn all the same.

The first is from Merlin The Cat on Etsy (and Knittyboard). It was so much fun to spin. I spun most of it at a demo, and people kept petting it and commenting on the colors.

WPI: I have no earthly idea. Eyeballing it, it's DK to sport weight.
Yardage: 350 yards
Fiber: Pink superwash merino, gray Peruvian Wool, white mohair, gray bamboo

Next up, some merino that I bought at Heritage Arts in Grandview. It was soooooo gorgeous I couldn't resist it. It looked like it was dyed in the locks and then processed, so it made a nice heathery yarn.

WPI: 24 WPI
Yardage: 550 yards
Fiber: 100% merino

On the Blogger issue, MAD PROPS to A at PinkPorcupine Knits. She is seriously awesome and has put in way too much of her personal time helping clueless me. Thank you! And go look at her blog. She is not only talented with the HTML, but has some serious sock yumminess over there.

Dame Wendy, I tried your suggestion but it didn't really fix it. :(

Edit: LOOKIE! Ms. A fixed it for me. It's great! WOOHOO!

sarcasm>Yay for new blogger/sarcasm>

2007-04-20T01:09:00.000-07:00

I am warning you, there are filthy words in this post. If you are a small child or offended by four letter words, just move on, because I am NOT in any mood to cater to your delicate sensibilities, mmkay?

So yay! New Blogger, huh? Isn't it GREAT!?

What a pain in the ass. Seriously! UGH. No, really, I don't think my frustration is getting through.

AHHHHHHHHH!

Nope, not quite.

Just about...

There we go!

Anyway, I've got a beaded row counter for anyone who can tell me why, FOR THE LOVE OF FUCK, after messing with everything I can think of I have my blog title showing up under my header image and why it's so far down on the page.

If you can be pretty useful, I'll send you something pretty and useful. The row counter is red and yellow. Yes, Nicole, I know. Shuddup.

All together now...

2007-04-15T18:30:00.000-07:00

"Awwwwwwwwwwww."

Too bad.

Yes, I'm an evil person and I'm going to hell. Whatever.

I'm not sure I buy the official story. If you're having trouble keeping up, why have 300 items for sale on Etsy? Why not cut back instead of closing the store entirely? I think it might have something to do with the fact that "yarnknitter," a user on Etsy that bought ONLY from Mystical Creations, 20 pages of feedback worth, and who always showed up to leave a page or two of feedback after MCY got a negative or neutral, is no longer a registered user. Things that make you go hmmmmmm.

Again, this is just my opinion.

Socks, glorious socks

2007-04-01T09:06:00.000-07:00

By now I'm sure you've heard about the ridonkulous 52 pairs of socks in a year KAL, right? I'm not quite that crazy. I am, however, crazy enough for the Slow-Poke Socks KAL. Woohoo!

In other sock news, I finished my RPMs but they refuse to photograph nicely.

Pattern: RPM, Knitty
Yarn: Socks that Rock Fire on the Mountain
Needles: Size 2 Knitpicks DPNs

And I finished a Pomatomus. Just one. This is a source of much mockery from Lauren who finished BOTH of hers ages ago. Yeah, I'll get around to it.

I finished this while I was visiting Blogless Betty™ the other week. Oh, what fun we had. We OD'd on yarn shops. We chatted. We ate (which reminds me, if you are ever in Dallas and go to the Shabby Sheep, right next door is a little restaurant. Go there and order the chocolate pudding cake. You will orgasm right there). We Starbucked. It was so, so good. Also, she let me shop her stash in honor of my birthday, and I picked out this Ruby Sapphire Luster Sock (50/50 merino/tencel, 400 yards, DELICOUS purple).

I knew before I even left her house what I wanted to make with it.

Yes, that's Bayerische. First, let me say this. It is a lovely pattern and well written and Eunny is a goddess. I love it. Last night when I started it, however, I was thinking Eunny was a goddess kind of like Kali, the Indian goddess of death. Just evil.

Cast on, did the ribbing, all was well. Then there was an increase round straight from the fiery depths of HELL. Maybe I made it harder on myself than I needed to, but when she said M1 purlwise, I assumed that meant pulling up the bar and purling it through the back (which now checking the comments, yes, that's exactly what she intended), which was nigh on fucking impossible. Then I started the first pattern round. Want to guess how long it took me to knit that one round?

Just take a wild stab in the dark.

10 minutes? No. 20? Nope. 35 minutes. For one round. Of a SOCK, people! I know this because I listened to an entire podcast which was 35 minutes long while doing that round. Jeezopete. I don't think every round will take that long because my stitches were tight from all the inspired-by-demons increases, and then trying to do those wicked 7 stitch crosses without a cable needle was needle acrobatics. So yeah. I got through another two rounds before I hung it up for the night, and they went much more smoothly. So Eunny is back to benevolent knitting goddess status in my mind. I'm so grateful that she puts up such gorgeous patterns for free on her blog. She is so talented.

Okay! So as a treat for making it through that craziness, I finished up another iPod neck thingy to hold my Nano while I knit or clean or shop or whatever. It's from the leftover STR from the RPMs above. I love it.

Alpaca demo

2007-03-25T08:54:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I went down to BFE, Texas to a seminar where they had a bunch of alpaca farmers explaining things to people considering buying alpacas. We were there to demonstrate handspinning and the farmers were literally like, "Here, do you need some fiber? Take this. Here, take this too." I got to meet this chocolate brown alpaca named Domino, then spin his wool and knit up a little swatch. I also got to spin some Suri, which was *drool*. Oh! I also got a carding lesson from BJ and carded what I spun too.

Fun day!

I should have pictures of the cute alpacas a little later. I didn't take them, so I'm waiting for my friend to send them to me.

In the meantime, have some yarn porn.

This is the yarn. The top is Suri and the bottom is huacaya, which BJ and I were calling "Peanut butter cup.

This is a close up of the two. I tried to spin the suri with minimal twist and make it nice and furry. I haven't washed and whacked it yet.

How about some more crappy pictures? Huh?

2007-03-02T02:50:00.000-08:00

I swear I need a new camera.

Also, it's hard to take a picture of your own hand. This is one of my Fetching gloves, knit with my very own handspun! This is the first I've knit my own yarn. I was amazed at how ~~knitting it covers up so many mistakes~~ rewarding it is to knit your own handspun. ;)

And here is a crappy picture of my Pomatomus (how DO you pronounce that?) in STR Seduction (50/50 merino tencel) in the Puck's Mischief colorway. Lauren has some of the same yarn, so we're making twin (well, quadruplet?) socks. I can't wait to see hers. She is like a monster fast knitter, so she'll have hers done and I'll still be at the same point. Just you watch. The first one is more accurate as far as color, but the second one shows you the glorious shiny sheen. I love this yarn. I love this pattern. I have achieved Sock Nirvana.

Regarding the disappointing yarn in my last post, BJ, being brilliant you know, had a simple suggestion for me that made me go, OH DUH! Of course! She suggested I overdye it with some blue so that it'll be more purpley like I wanted. I may salvage this yarn yet. I have only dyed one other time and it was a disaster, so this should be interesting. Stay tuned.

The good, the bad, and the ugly

2007-02-21T08:48:00.000-08:00

First The Good.

I got a new spinning wheel! Yes, I know I just bought two new wheels a few months ago. But I was in LUST with this wheel. I had to have it. So I bought it, and I'm so, so glad. I'm selling the other two. It's a Kromski Sonata. I received it Saturday and my Wheel Lust developed into full-on Wheel Love. It spins so nicely. Pictures? Well, okay.

Here it is all folded up and ready to go into the neato padded bag. Notice Super Harmony in her Girl Power cape holding the wheel up for me. Super Christopher is hiding behind it.

So that's that. Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

The Bad

Remember the RPM socks I was doing two at the same time using double knitting? Yes, well, I got to where I was going to start the heel and put them down for a long time. I found them the other day and decided I should get back to them. So I started knitting and realized this wasn't fun anymore, and in fact it was making my hand cramp. So I took the needles out and separated them and WOW holy gauge issues. The outer one was huge and had weird bulges and the inner one was itty bitty and wouldn't go over my heel no how no way. So I frogged it and am starting over. :(

The Ugly

I ordered yarn from Etsy for the first time ever, and it was not a good experience. I found some gorgeous Tencel laceweight that was a pretty purpley pink and blue/black color. I ordered two skeins on the 4th and paid right away. Four days later I hadn't heard a word about it, so I contacted the seller. She was kind of snippy and said she was busy and my yarn was due to go out in four more days. So that's eight days from when I paid. Ugh. Anyway, I wait and wait and wait. 16 days after I paid it finally came. She did not ship it when she said she would. She shipped it 11 days after I ordered. That is just unacceptable to me. The worst part is that the color is TOTALLY different than what she showed. She enhanced the hell out of the pictures so that it looks nothing at all like what I got.

Judge for yourself. First picture is hers, second is mine.

Bad! Bad blogger!

2007-02-07T15:20:00.000-08:00

But I'm a bad blogger with a wonderful Secret Pal!

Yes, ANOTHER post about her awesomeness. It just can't be stated enough. She's great.

Today, I got one last package from her. It was some GORGEOUS roving from Luxe.

Here it is lazing on the front lawn along with some goodies from her last package, which I was a BAD BLOGGER and didn't blog about. I'm so embarrassed. Look, I even knit half a sock with some of it and haven't even blogged about it. I totally suck. But look, I have pretty things!

Here's some yarn I spun. It's 100% merino, and it is TO. DIE. FOR.

You want it? You can have it! Just go to http://www.twinshock.net/forums and look for the 2007 Make-a-Wish Charity Auction. We're raising money for Make A Wish Foundation, and this yarn along with a book and some rosewood needles is up for auction. 100% of the proceeds go to Make A Wish. Giving! Getting! Yarn! Happy! LOL

Pictures

2007-01-08T07:21:00.000-08:00

My monitor is still screwed up, so I can't tell anything about the color of these pictures. I hope they are pretty accurate.

So first, the promised pictures of the iPod Cozy. I finished the i-cord on the way up to Roc Day at Beaumont Ranch, which, by the way was a BLAST. I met so many new spinners, got to try spinning some llama, met a lady who's going to sell me an angora bunny, and brought home some simply gorgeous bamboo for this year's Fiber Challenge. We're supposed to take the bamboo and turn it into something "in the style of the Orient" and bring it with us next year.

Anyway, here's the cozy.

Peeping out

Second up, here's some more of that Lorna's Laces handpainted top that I spun some more of. I plied it at Roc Day with the help of the wonderful BJ.

This I plied up last night. This is spun from the roving that my darling secret pal sent. It is sooooooooooo soft and drapey and just awesome. She picks out good roving for a non-spinner, don't you think?

The two skeins wanted to go sunbathing. You can see the purple one is quite a bit smaller than the teal one. The purple one is about 85 yards, 13 wraps per inch (DK weight) and the teal is 185 yards, 16 WPI (fingering weight).

iPod Nano Cozy

2007-01-05T19:12:00.000-08:00

My mom got me an iPod Nano for Christmas. Yay mom! I love my Nano. Love. I had a problem, though. I usually wear things that don't have pockets, so I had nowhere to put it while I was cleaning or whatever. So what do I do with things I love? Cover them with knitting, of course.

Vague pattern-ish thingy:

Yarn: Artyarns Regal Silk - 100% silk (This is just what I used. For subs, ball band says 5 stiches per inch on size 7s, but personally I think they lie. It looks more like a DK to me than a light worsted), a very small amount.
Size 3 Knitpicks DPNs
Guage: Bwaaaaaaaahahahah! *gasp* BAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHA. (no really. I just eyeballed the whole thing. I'll measure it, I swear.)

Cast on 30 stitches, join in round

Knit one round, purl one round
K1, YO twice, k2tog k13, YO twice, Ktog, knit to end of round
Knit next round knitting only one stitch into the two YO's, dropping the second loop of each YO off the needle after you knit the first one (if that makes any sense)
Work four more rounds in garter stitch
Begin working in stockinette, and work even until tube is long enough to hold your Nano
Place 15 stitches on one needle and 15 stitches on another needle, with working yarn at end of one of those.
To make the bottom flap and a hole for your headphone plug:
Work back and forth in stockinette stitch for 2 rows
On next row, P2, YO twice, P2tog, purl to end of row
Knit next row, treating the YO twice the same as you did before.
Purl next row.
Turn the piece inside out.
Connect with stitches on other needle using 3-needle bind off.

Knit a length of I-cord as long as you want to hang around your neck. Thread each end through the two holes in the garter portion and tie each end in a knot to secure it with the knots on the outside.

Pictures of this later. I'm still doing i-cord. *twitch*

Happy New Year

2007-01-01T06:55:00.000-08:00

I'm behind on blogging, I know. This time of year is CRAAAAAZY with work for me, so I've been pounding the keyboard and not much time for knitting or blogging or anything else. :(

Hopefully this week I'll have more time.

For Christmas knitting I made a pair of socks for my mom, Knitty's Broadripple in pale green, blue, pink and yellow self-striping. She loved them. I didn't get a picture, though. :( I just finished binding off the toe on Christmas morning! Eeek!

I also made a coffee cup cozy from the Knitpicks pattern for my sister, but I haven't felted it yet. I started one for my brother-in-law, but it's not done.

Party pics

2006-12-20T10:04:00.000-08:00

The spread!

Mary Kay, Connie and Kati with my tree in the background (and my husband's ass)

Mary Kay and Connie

Sylvia, Brandi and Dawn (and my fat ass) enjoying the gnosh

Brandi and Sylvia checking out their gifts. Sylvia got some GORGEOUS handspun yarn. I'm a wee bit jealous.

Mary Kay and Connie checking out their gifts. Mary Kay got a supported spindle and some cotton. Again, I'm jealous. Connie's holding her new project bag. Again, jealous. LOL

Sylvia fondles her yarn while Dawn reads us the Letter From a Box of Earplugs as Irene listens. I never knew that little foam earplugs were so useful to a knitter until the earplugs wrote the letter for Dawn (as told to Connie) illustrating their many knitting uses, from point protectors to children drowner outers to projectiles for people who interrupt you when you're counting.

That's it. :-D

Guild Christmas Party

2006-12-19T06:26:00.000-08:00

Last night was the guild Christmas party. We had it at my house, which was nice not to have to stress about DH being home to watch the kids and all. The food? Delish. The wine? Fabulous. The company? Divine. I also managed to snag 8 oz. of Color Me roving in Fiery. Drool. We had a small gift exchange, as well, and I received some lovely handmade soap in the most gorgeous little gift bag. I didn't get any pictures, but if they're posted on the guild site soon I'll snag them.

Weird

2006-12-11T16:21:00.000-08:00

My monitor suddenly fixed itself last night. Gremlins in there or something. Anyway, now I can see how much the picture of my shawl really sucks. lol I'll get some better ones soon, promise.

Stick a fork in it

2006-12-07T22:54:00.000-08:00

It's done. Thank goodness. This picture was taken by a girl in my guild on her cell phone. My monitor is shot (the red doohickey [actual technical term] fried up so I only have green and blue) so I have no idea what this picture actually looks like. lol Sorry if it sucks. It'll fit right in with all my other sucky pictures.

Editing to add details:
The pattern is Creatures of the Reef
The yarn is Knitpicks Alpaca Cloud in Tidepool (gorgeous, gorgeous stuff.)
Knit on size 4 Addis, and I guess it took about 6 months to knit with a LONG hiatus in there, so really more like 2.

Navajo plying

2006-12-02T01:39:00.000-08:00

I tried my hand at navajo plying tonight. At first, I wasn't pinching it off at all. I was just letting it wildly twist and wind on. Mmm, bad idea, okay? Don't do that. Once I figured it out, it was alternately pleasant and stressful. I think a tensioned lazy kate would help, but I'm using the super fancy Ghetto Rigged Knitting Needle Stuck Through a Box method. Also, the bobbin I was using seems to have a small bit on the end missing, and it was clacking and driving me crazy. That could have added to the stress. I'll have to find some way to fix that.

It didn't turn out too bad, I suppose. The main thing is the color changes were preserved. I had 2-plied some spindle spun yarn with this same top, and, well, it looked like crap. So I'm much happier with this. I'm not happy with the thickness. I wanted it thinner. Such is the learning process. This is before setting the twist.

With a dime for scale and whatnot. I dunno. It seems to be what you do. LOL

Just a few pictures

2006-11-30T09:26:00.000-08:00

Okay! Time for some sharing.

First, here are my Lacevember projects.

First we have Baudelaire, which I started in the summer and finally finished yesterday. The yarn is Knitpicks Essential in Gulfstream.

Then this is the progress on the Creatures of the Reef shawl. I just have to do the seafoam stuff at the top and it's done.

Next up, my worst case of Second Sock Syndrome is officially OVER. The Jaywalkers! They're done! I think I started these at least a year ago. Sheesh. The yarn is Knitpicks Sock Garden in Pansy.

And lastly, a truly craptastic photo of the splendifferous roving my secret pal sent me.

How does it look spun up?

Gorgeous.

Serendipity

2006-11-21T20:02:00.000-08:00

Oh, y'all (I say as if anyone actually reads this blog LOL) I had the best day ever yesterday.

I sat knitting by the window stalking the UPS man and almost finished my cursed Jaywalkers aka The Worst Case of SSS in History. Finally he came! My wheels! They came! Wooohoo!

So I tore open the boxes and dug through all the hidden treasures that dear L put in. Homemade soaps, some Romney roving to get me started, extra paint and decals for the wheels, just good stuff. She also sent along some spindles. One is a basic top whorl that is painted with the same green and purple paint as my wheels. How adorable! Then there's another one that is so light and tiny it's like a feather. Can you say cashmere? I knew you could.

Anyhoo! So I got the wheels set up and sat down to learn how to use them. I succeeded in breaking my yarn and losing the end, mostly, but eventually I got it. As I was sitting there, there was a knock on my door. Who could that be? Why, it's the mail man, and he brought me about 8 oz. of the. most. beautiful. merino roving you have ever seen in your LIFE from my secret pal. She is just the best! All you other secret pals be jealous, because I got the best one. She put in a sweet note that made my day most of all. But how perfect that it arrived on the same day, nay, the same HOUR as my wheels? Of course, my pal says she totally planned that. ;) I've already got BIG plans for it.

I really need to get a picture of it. I tried, but the pictures just do not do it any justice at all. So I'll keep trying and post a picture soon. Just be warned. You might need a drool bib.

So then I spent the day spinning and getting to know my wheels, and that evening was the meeting for my Spinners and Weavers Guild. They ooohed and ahhhed over my wheel (I brought the green Delft with me) and tried to steal my secret pal roving when I wasn't looking and Suzieann (sp?) from Fire Ant Ranch was there trying to ~~leave us broke~~ tempt us with gorgeous spindles and fiber she had from Kid N Ewe. Much fun was had.

By the end of the day, this is what I ended up with. Please excuse the craptastic photography.

Not bad, I think, for my first attempt. Brown is not my color at all, but DH likes it and wants me to knit him a hat and some bulky boot socks, so I guess I'll oblige.

My first secret pal package has arrived!

2006-11-14T08:08:00.000-08:00

And I can't find my camera! waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Anyway, my magnificent pal sent me a hank of Foxtrot from To Knit, Perchance to Dream. I LOVE IT!!!!!!! It is so beautiful, and so nice and soft and just the texture I love in a sock yarn. Thank you so much, whomever you are. You made my day! I can't wait to knit it up. Hmm, and I just got some new DPNs from Knitpicks the other day. Perfect. Off to search for a pattern!

Fortune smiles upon me

2006-11-10T14:21:00.000-08:00

The lady I'm buying the wheel from offered me a very generous discount for both the wheels she was selling. So what did I do? Bought the other one, of course.

Thank you, L, my spinning savior!

Here's the other one. Love, love, love.

Lacevember, third contest question

2006-11-10T03:04:00.000-08:00

This question asks what my ideal lace knitting conditions are. Well, my ideal would be sitting on a beach somewhere in the Mediterranean with a Calvin Klein underwear model rubbing my feet and telling me how great I am, but that's unlikely. So, a realistic ideal would be kids in bed, good light, glass of wine nearby, husband otherwise occupied, either sitting in front of the TV with something funny that I don't have to look at (stand up comedy is perfect for this) on, or sitting at my computer listening to the latest Randi Rhodes show, with my cat on the headrest behind me purring.

Pssst, I've heard the Lacevember folks are partial to cat pictures, so here is my purring fuzzball.

Mine all mine, version 2.0

2006-11-09T07:38:00.000-08:00

For real this time! Hooray!

Lacevember!

2006-11-08T04:14:00.000-08:00

The knitting questions, or the usual suspects

How long have you been knitting? I guess almost two years? I don't really know.

How did you learn to knit? I taught myself.

Favorite thing about knitting? Everything! Okay, not everything. Casting on 437 stitches isn't much fun, but all the rest of it is!

How long have you been knitting lace? My very first project was lace, actually. After some initial experimental swatching, I dove right into the Heirloom Baby Afghan from the craft yarn website.

Favorite thing about knitting lace. The fact that I usually never get bored, and the finished product.

The yarn questions, or flash your stash

Favorite lace yarn? So far my favorite has been Knitpicks Shadow

variegated or solids for shawls? Depends. For really intricate lace, I like a solid or heathered. If it's not too busy a pattern, I do love me some variagated.

Favorite lace color? Purple!

Technique, or show us your skillz

Circs or straights? Circs.

Favorite lace knitting trick? Counting along the purl row and just picking up the bar between stitches if you mis a yarn over. Or, alternately, if you're knitting lace on DPNs and have to do a YO right at the point where the needles switch, skip it and pick up the bar the next row.

Lifelines? If so with what? I live dangerously. I've never put in a lifeline.

Fancy blocking wires, or just sewing pins stuck in your carpet? I use the Yarn Harlot method, which is to string a thread through the top edge and then pin the heck out of the rest.

Pattern, or can you follow directions

shawls or lacey items? Shawls

triangle, rectangle, or circular shawls? I love circular shawls, but I haven't knit one yet.

Charts or printed instructions? I can get along with charts just fine if they're not 20 inches wide and teeny tiny blocks, but I do prefer printed instructions

Favorite lace you've knit? Hedera

Favorite lace you want to knit? Tea Shawl from Gathering of Lace

Just Fun, yup that's right, just for fun

Favorite jelly belly flavor? Mango

Tell me everything you know about Eric the Red..... Uhhhhhh, he was Leif Erikkson's father? And a viking?

Coke, classic or with lime? Ew, neither. Dr. Pepper all the way.

Holiday carols, sing along, or wish they would be banned from all public airwaves? I like them the few days before Christmas, but I think starting them right after Halloween is excessive and makes me want to poke my eyes out with sporks by Thanksgiving.

What is the definition of irony? Well, it's not a black fly in your chardonnay, I can tell you that.

How many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie roll pop? Let's find out. One... two... *crunch!*

Why is my cat always puking in front of my son's bedroom door? Because the cat is mad at your son and wants him to step in it.

What is your superhero power? Able to wrangle 3 short people on a single hour's sleep!

If the laundry is 9 foot by 11 foot (just dreaming, that's a big laundry room), and the walls are 8 feet tall, and you are going to tile the entire room in tiles that are 3 inches by 5 inches, what color should those tiles be? Black and white for the floor, lavender for the walls

What's for dinner tonight? It's way too early to worry about that.

What is clogging my children's bathtub drain? Alligators

I normally don't post political stuff, but...

2006-11-08T01:00:00.000-08:00

I just have to scream this to the rooftops. I am beyond ecstatic right now.

MADAME SPEAKER!

Also, a big "so long" to Rick Santorum. My only regret is that I'm no longer in Pennsylvania and didn't have the pleasure of voting against you.

Spreading Santorum

Or not

2006-11-04T06:00:00.000-08:00

Well, no, the wheel is not mine all mine after all. The seller started getting all shady, was listing it elsewhere for $125 more than I was going to buy it for, and after I had committed to buy it was offering it to another person on Knittyboard. And ignoring my emails. So I wrote her and called it off. Last thing I need is to be screwed out of money.

:( :( :( :( :(

So I guess I'm still searching. Poop.

MINE ALL MINE!

2006-10-30T09:12:00.000-08:00

Yes, it is. I'm so excited! I get to pick it up Sunday.

WIP round up. Now with actual knitting progress!

2006-10-16T13:00:00.000-07:00

Here we go. First my Flashy Lace sweater. If I don't get to some interesting shaping soon, this might become a UFO. So. Boring.

Baudelaire, the second sock with a not-so-pointy toe.

Lizard Ridge squares

Aran sandal sock - the first one is DONE! The top

The side

The heel (I love how the patterning goes down the heel. Perfect for clogs and birks)

Creatures of the reef shawl

I dunno, can you see the seahorse and crabs?

And lastly, the sad, sad, RPM socks that need me to rip some stitches out and fix them. How did I cross a stitch four rows back? I was paying attention! GRR!

SP9 contest

2006-10-16T09:28:00.000-07:00

Woot! I love contests. So here's my entry. Thank you to our lovely host, Heatherly, for doing this.

1. Where is your favorite knitting spot?

My couch, surrounded by every throw pillow in the room. That really annoys my husband.

2. If you suddenly could never knit again (shudder) - what would you do instead?

Wallow in despair? Hmm, I guess I'd still spin.

3. If you could travel anywhere in the world - where would you go and why?

Australia, great barrier reef. I am a beachy watery pisces and I would love to swim with all those fish in such clear beautiful water.

4. When you were little - What did you want to do "when you grew up?" Are you doing it?

I wanted to be a vet. No, I'm not doing it, but my husband works at a vet clinic. lol

5. What is your favorite flavor of ice cream?

Mississippi Mud *drool*

Socktoberfest!

2006-10-13T06:53:00.000-07:00

Lolly asks to see pictures of our sock stash. My sock stash is WAY less embarrassing than my lace stash, so I'm happy to show it. See? Not that big. Of course, it doesn't count the 10 pairs worth that are in various stages of completion somewhere else in the house, but never mind that. It also doesn't include the roving I'm spinning that's planning on being socks. Ahem.

And some questions...

When did you start making socks? Did you teach yourself or were you taught by a friend or relative? or in a class?

I taught myself. I wanted to start knitting just to make socks. The DPNs and I battled for a while, and then finally we called a truce and I've been a sock fiend ever since.

What was your first pair? How have they "held up" over time?

My first pair was for my husband in Lion Brand Magic Stripes on size 3 needles. Looking back, the guage is way too loose. But he still has them and wears them. They need a little darning on the heel. That man is hell on socks.

What would you have done differently?

See "gauge issues" above. I also wouldn't have used Magic Stripes. Ick.

What yarns have you particularly enjoyed?

Socks that Rock! They truly do rock. I completed a pair in the Lapis colorway, and my RPMs (I just typed PMS... Freudian?) are also in STR. I have some Artyarns Ultramerino that I can't wait to use because I can tell I'm going to love it.

Do you like to crochet your socks? or knit them on DPNs, 2 circulars, or using the Magic Loop method?

We don't use that dirty "c" word on this blog. Not since the Great Star Blanket Fiasco of 2005. Nuh-uh. I have tried magic loop, but I still prefer my DPNs. The other ways just seem too fussy and just ways to avoid using DPNs, and since I don't mind DPNs and actually like using them, they're kind of just way too fussy for not a lot of benefit.

Which kind of heel do you prefer? (flap? or short-row?)

I prefer a flap. I have adopted the heel flap from Hedera for all my socks now. Basically you do Sl1, P1 on the wrong side and just knit across the right side. Seems easier to me.

How many pairs have you made?

I'm not sure. 10? About that.

Do you have certain patterns planned for some of the yarns? Do you buy yarn and then choose a pattern?

I have patterns picked out for two pairs. My last skein of STR will be Anastasia from Minty Fresh. And the Knitpicks Dancing will be the air-conditioned socks from Jackie E-S's sock journal. All the others? I have no idear. I just buy sock yarn and figure I'll worry about a pattern later.

Does a certain sock yarn you have in your stash take you back to a certain event? (where you were when you bought/received it? what was going on in your life at the time!)

All the sock yarn I've bought at the Woolie Ewe in Plano brings back good memories of sitting around knitting with Betty and spending way too much money. ;) Most of the other stuff was bought over the internet, so no, no special memories there.

Da Fair

2006-10-11T05:58:00.000-07:00

So this week is the Fair in my neck of the woods. The HOT Spinners and Weavers Guild had a booth, and I was up there most of last weekend. I think I was supposed to be demoing and answering questions and such, but mostly I just played with yarn and wool and had a good time. Oh, and ate funnel cake.

Here's the booth.

While I was there, I spun up this mini-skein of noodlebarf yarn.

And for the what the fuck category, here's a butter sculpture of a cow riding a motorcycle. Bet you've never seen one of those before.

Secret Pal 9! Questionnaire

2006-10-01T11:24:00.000-07:00

I'm so excited!

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like? So far my favorite has been Socks that Rock. I mostly knit with Knitpicks yarn because I know I like it and I don't have a LYS within 75 miles. :( I'm not a big fan of the cotton.

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in? Store them? As in unused needles? HA! In the rare occasion that every needle in the house does not have a WIP on it, they go in a glass jar.

3. How long have you been knitting & how did you learn? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced? I have been knitting for a bit over a year, and I taught myself. I guess I'd consider myself intermediate, but I don't shy away from advanced techniques/patterns, and I love trying new things.

4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list? Why yes, yes I do.

5. What's your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products, etc.) Gardenia is my favorite. I like citrusy scents and floral scents. I'm not to fond of sweet scents, like vanilla.

6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy? Do I ever. I like anything chocolate.

7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin? I'm a new spinner.

8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD) I like country. *paranoid look* Yes, my computer and DVD/CD player can play MP3s.

9. What's your favorite color(s)? Any colors you just can't stand? I love blue and purple and green. I really don't care for orange.

10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets? I am married. I have four-year-old twins (boy and girl) and a two-year-old girl. We have a cat and dog.

11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos? No, not really. It's too warm here for that kind of stuff.

12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit? SOCKS! And lace shawls.

13. What are you knitting right now? What am I not knitting right now? LOL A few pairs of socks, Flashy Lace from Knitty, Lizard Ridge from Knitty, and two lace shawls.

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts? Looooooooove it!

15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic? I prefer circulars and DPNs, and I like them as slick as can be. I mostly use Addis and Knitpicks needles. I have found that I like Crystal Palace bamboo DPNs, but other bamboo DPNs drive me batty.

16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift? Yes.

17. How old is your oldest UFO? Oh my. Over a year old.

18. What is your favorite holiday? Halloween!

19. Is there anything that you collect? Dust bunnies? No, not really.

20. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have? I have no knitting mag subscriptions. I do love IK's designs. Vogue, not so much. I really love the Heeere be Dragones shawl pattern, and I'm dying to try some Handpaintedyarn.com laceweight. I have been hesitant to order any because the last time my package was in limbo forever, and it took almost two months to get to me. I'd like to try some Kidsilk Haze, Trekking, Shepherd Sock and CTH Supersock, and Koigu because everyone always raves about those.

21. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn? I'm just getting started in modular knitting. I'd like to do more fair isle, too. I've done a tiny bit of entrelac, and for some reason I have it in my head that I MUST knit an afghan for my couch, and if I do I want it to be entrelac.

22. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements? Yeppers! I've never actually measured my foot. Hmm. I wear a size 9 shoe, and I do have a wide foot but I normally knit sock patterns as is or even a little narrower because I really like them snug.

23. When is your birthday? (mm/dd) March 10th.

Distraction

2006-09-29T13:13:00.000-07:00

Yeah, so I got distractd from the UFOs and WIPs that need to get done. Sue me.

First here we have a modular knitted coaster from the Knitty Gritty show the other day. Very cute and very quick. That's Sugar n' Creme yarn. I love how it looks like a bunch of little triangles, but it's actually knit all in one piece with no picking up stitches or anything. Very clever.

And this is my first square of Lizard Ridge from the newest Knitty. It's done with Paton's SWS in Natural Plum. I can't gush enough about this yarn. I love it. I can't wait to snuggle under a nice big blanket of it. This square needs a good blocking. It was tough to get it to lay flat. It's like a square with about a dozen little sock heels in it.

Aw, jeez, I'm a freakin' moron and a half. I just realized I did row 10 of the pattern wrong. No wonder it won't lay flat. *sigh* Rip. Rip. Rip. Damn it.

Sock INSANITY!!!!!

2006-09-23T04:05:00.000-07:00

I have a couple of *coughcougholdcough* FOs to show. First one is a felted baby hat from a Pick Up Sticks pattern. Yes, this is the hat of furry doom that was blogged about before. Also some cute little booties.

These are my Finding Nemo socks. The yarn is Knitpicks Sock Memories in the Easter colorway, and the pattern is ... oh, crap. What is it? Something from Knitting Vintage Socks. I traded away the book, so I don't know. It's the purple one in the book. LOL I altered the pattern to accommodate a larger gauge, and I did these socks two at once on magic loop. Yeah, NEVER doing that again.

This is a WIP that I just started. Yes, it's RPM from Knitty. It's Socks That Rock Fire on the Mountain, and it's just loverly. This picture sucks. I promise in real life it's gorgeous and so, so, so soft.

But wait...

What's that?

EGADS! There are two socks, one inside the other! I'm trying out the double knitting method of knitting two socks at once. There was an article on it in the newest knitty, so I decided I'm insane enough to try some extreme knitting. What. A. Pain. In. The. Farking. Ass. I've only frogged this about 5 times and unknitted I don't know how many stitches. But I'm doing it! And it is kind of fun and definitely not boring.

New look

2006-09-20T03:09:00.000-07:00

That blue was hideous. :)

See ya, Mariah

2006-09-10T01:03:00.000-07:00

I frogged the little bit I had actually accomplished on Mariah. It just wasn't right for the yarn at all. It's too woolen, and the cables didn't pop like I wanted them to. The color is all wrong, too. It's a heathered pink, and I love it, but it's just not right for a rock n' roll sweater like Mariah. I got the chance to see Sylvia's gorgeous Mariah up close and personal on Thursday night, and mine just looked like CRAP lol, so to the frog pond she went. I cast on Flashy Lace with the yarn, and I like it much better. Besides, it doesn't have a bazillion seams. And it doesn't have a zipper to figure out. And I have the stitch pattern memorized after only one repeat. So yeah.

The pattern pictures don't really show it that well, so here, have a look at Sara's Flashy Lace sweater. Isn't it to die for?

My first toe-up sock

2006-09-08T01:15:00.000-07:00

And it sucks! Weeeeeeee!

I fell in love with the Baudelaire pattern in the summer Knitty, and I immediately searched the stash for appropriate yarn. I found it, and then actually read the pattern. Whoa! Toe up? Gulp. No problem. Heh. Heh. I can do that. Gulp. Heh.

I fought my way through a figure 8 cast on, which looks deceptively simple written out, but hot damn is it fiddly, and then patted myself on the back when I got through it. The stitches at the end of the toe were all loose and ugly, but I figured I could fix that right up with my handy dandy tapestry needle and the yarn tail. More on that later.

So I knit the sock. Loved the pattern. I love the way the heel came out. I go to bind off. I check the pattern to see what I'm supposed to do. Er, sewn bind off? As in sew? Pfffffffffft. I am a knitter, I say, and I do not sew. I was cocky. And we all know what happens when knitters get cocky.

So I scour the web for other stretchy bind offs to try. I find one that looks simple enough. Supposedly you just p2tog, loosen that stitch up, and then put it back on the left needle and do it all again. Well, apparently some people's definition of "stretchy" varies from my definition of "stretchy." Because that shit was not stretchy at all. I struggled to get it over my fat heel and fat ankle, but it would not go up over my fat calf at all. I let out a little whimper as I realized I had just knitted an entire sock that I can't wear.

So I did what any obsessive compulsive (and a little superstitious) knitter would do. I ripped out the cast off and about 4 rounds of ribbing, said a silent little apology to Cookie and the late Elizabeth Zimmermann, and redo it with the EZ sewn bind off that was suggested in the pattern, the one I would have used if I had not gotten cocky. Cookie? If you read this and you felt a twinge of righteous indignation this week for no apparent reason, that was most likely my "whoopsies!" energy heading your way.

So now the sock fits, and I'm happy with it except for that damned toe. I was way wrong when I thought I could fix it. It rather resembles a cold nipple. Seriously, it's so pointy that it's not allowed on airplanes. Ouch. See? I just poked my eye out with it. There's blood all over.

For the second sock, I'm going to use a different toe. I just don't think figure 8 is for me.

And I'd leave you with pictures of the pointy, bloody sock, but I have no idea where my camera cord is. I'm sure it's in a box somewhere. Moving sucks.

Crikey, he croakied

2006-09-04T05:12:00.000-07:00

Sad day. We'll all miss you, Steve.

Socky yums and felting disasters

2006-09-02T21:55:00.000-07:00

Did I ever post pictures of the finished Hedera and Cascading Leaves socks? I don't think so. These are scanned so use your imagination as to what they look like on real live feet.

Yarn info because I hate when people leave that out and I'm blog searching and can't find what I want:

Hedera - Pattern from Spring '06 Knitty, Yarn is Socks that Rock in the Lapis Colorway

Cascading Leaves - Pattern by Jeanie Townsend, available on her Yahoo group, yarn is JoJoLand Melody, and I'm sorry I have no idea what colorway.

Anyhoo. I just finished a Pick Up Sticks felted baby hat for... oh, I dunno. Someone. :) I'll post some pictures when I'm sure not to ruin a surprise. I also made some little matching booties. That was the first time I'd knit booties, and seriously, how much fun are they? They take no time, hardly any yarn, and they come out so freakin' cute!

So yeah, the disaster part. I had accidentally felted a kerchief I'd made out of Knitpicks Andean Silk, and after felting it was so soft and nice. So when I decided to do this baby hat, I thought oh yeah, Andean Silk for the baby head.

That was a bad, bad, bad idea.

It started out innocently enough. It was felting just as it should have, shrinking and shrinking. I put it through two wash cycles before I was satisfied that it was small enough. And then I noticed. "Hmm," I say to no one in particular, "This sure does look furry."

I rinse it. It's hairy. No, not just hairy, it's like Harry and the Hendersons hairy. Panicking, I wonder what on earth to do? Throw it in the dryer and hope the hair all comes off in the lint trap? NO! That will make it worse! Focus, Snappah. So I grab a pair of scissors and I cut. And I cut. Have you ever given a baby hat a haircut? It's not too much fun. And if I'd been thinking, which I wasn't, I would have used the clippers and saved my hand from the PAIN. Oh, the pain. I tell you what, there's a soon-to-be-new mommy out there who better appreciate this damn hat.

LACE SWAPPING!

2006-09-02T04:30:00.000-07:00

Oh, YEAH!

Did you hear that? That was the sound of a yarngasm. My secret lace swap pal from Whose Lace is it Anyway was WAY too good to me.

4 skeins of Alpaca Cloud in Mist (how did she know? It's like my favorite ever!)
1 hank of Bare laceweight and Kool Aid for dyeing (yay!)
Rona Lace shawl pattern from Knitpicks, which I absolutely LOVE
Concert in the park shawl pattern, which is GORGEOUS.
My favorite chocolates, Lindor Truffles (drool)
This neat little tea thing that unfolds into a jasmine flower in your cup
Deliciously scented candles
Those awesome no-fuss rubber stitch markers that rule for laceweight yarn
A sweet card

So YIPPEE! I'm so in love with you now, Kelly. I truly am. Thank you so much.

To my pal, it's coming! I moved and the PO lost one of the packages that was coming to my house for you, but I should be getting the replacement any day now. Stupid holiday weekend and stupid post office closing. I feel horrible that this happened, but there's not too much I can do. So be patient, secret lace pal! You will be taken care of.

POP!

2006-07-28T02:08:00.000-07:00

There went my spinning cherry. I made yarn!

It's uneven and it's wonky, but it's all mine. :-D

Sorry about the weirdness in the picture. My camera hates taking pictures of white things with the flash on.

Wooot! I'm hooked. Spinning is so much fun, and once I actually get good enough to do things on purpose, it will be so much fun to make yarn for what I want how I want it.

Oh, and I promised better pics of the shawl. Sadly, it went away to its new home the other day. Good news is my sister loved it. Bad news is she loved it, so it'll probably never come back to me. Waaaaaaa.

Best day ever!

2006-06-25T03:04:00.000-07:00

So I spent my afternoon with a bunch of lovely ladies from the Heart of Texas Spinners & Weavers Guild. I actually spun a little bit of absolute crap yarn, too! Yay me! It was fun, and I will admit to kicking myself at 3 a.m. that I didn't just go ahead and buy a spindle and some roving from BJ. The drafting part confuses me, but the part where I let the spin enter the fiber I drafted, oh, that is like MAGIC and I love it. Maybe I'll e-mail her... I don't know if I can wait till the next guild meeting.

Everyone there was so nice and welcoming. I never felt like an "outsider" at all. I really look forward to getting to know these ladies more. One of the gals, Joanne, brought a beeeeeeautiful lace stole that she had made out of a cashmere and silk blend. I must have some of that now. Damn her. LOL And one of the ladies, Katie, has little girls my kids' ages. I think her oldest is a tad bit older than the twins, but I bet they would have a blast playing together. Maybe even so much so that they would leave us alone and we could play with yarn.

So after a long afternoon of knitting, chatting, coffee drinking and Panera eating (and no kids!) I got home and found my latest Knitpicks order had come. Yippee. I ordered some Andean Silk for a felting project, this adorable baby hat for someone special. Shhh, it's a surprise. I guess I could have used plain wool, but I had unintentionally (grr) felted some of this Andean Silk before, and it came out so, so, so soft. Just perfect for a tiny baby head. And I might have slipped a little Shimmer into my shopping cart, in the color Grape Hyacinth. It's purple AND green! Eat that, Betty! *snicker* So pretty and soft. I can't wait to knit with it.

But that's not the good part. The good part is I got some of the new Knitpicks needles that everyone is all abuzz about. I must have got my order in early, because I hear they're back ordered about two weeks at this point. Nanny nanny boo boo! Impulse buying has its advantages.

So let me tell you about these needles. When you go and look at them on the Knitpicks site, you will say to yourself, "Oh, that's wonderful... oh, my they also... and they... they're the needles of my dreams!" And it's all true. Smooth joins, slicker than greased owl snot nickel plate, incredibly flexible cables and a point so sharp ... uh, a point so sharp that... um. Hmm. I got nothing. But they're sharp.

You really can't beat the price, either. $4.99. That is a steal for this kind of quality. I kind of wonder what Addi will do now. I mean, they kind of had the big market on the nickel plated needles (along with Inox), and now these just blow Addi Turbos (or Blunti Stumpos, as Grumperina calls them) away.

Totally unfabulous

2006-06-17T14:03:00.000-07:00

So DH waited until the absolute last minute to wake me up today. As he was about to walk out the door, I said, "HEY WAIT! Take some pictures of me with the shawl real quick." So he found the camera, found it needed new batteries, got that squared away, and as I was getting ready to spread my arms out for THE obligatory shawl pose (seen here, here and here) he snapped the picture. I said, "Well, wait! I want to spread it out so you can see it." He said okay. So I spread my arms and prepared for my glorious shawl (oh... right, my sister's shawl) to be captured in film, and I heard, "Oh, sorry, card's full." "I'll go dump it!" I said. But no, there was no time. So even though I wanted to show you fabulous pictures of my shawl, all I have are unfabulous pics with my hair all ratty from just getting out of bed.

Sigh.

I will have FABULOUS ones soon.

Sock Pron

2006-05-30T13:12:00.000-07:00

Mmmmm. Oooooh. Ahhhhh.

That's a Hedera from Knitty, size 1 needles, Socks That Rock in the Lapis colorway. I am an official STR addict.

Mother's Day, a.k.a. Sonia's Birthday

2006-05-15T03:29:00.000-07:00

My baby is two years old. I cannot believe it. It seems like it was just last week I was swaddling her in blankets at the hospital and sniffing her sweet smelling baby head.

Then

Now

We had her birthday party at Pizza Hut due to extenuating circumstances (like the freakin' A/C going out AGAIN!(!!!) and the buckets of rain that would have made all our planned outdoor activities really soggy and not much fun.) I forgot the camera. Stupid! Anyway, fun was had by all.

On to Mother's Day. I made this bracelet for my mom. She LOVED it. And the green looked really good on her, too.

And knitting. I finished the Broadripple socks. I'm ashamed to admit how long ago I started them. Second Sock Syndrome bit me in the ass. So here they are on my fat ass feet.

I used Knitpicks Dancing in the Ballet colorway. Not the brightest thing I've ever done. The yarn is great, very soft and stretchy and lightweight and cool. It just doesn't work very well with this pattern. I think a more stripey variegated would have been better. Luckily I have a ton of more stripey variegated sock yarn in my increasing-by-the-day stash, so I can have a go at these again sometime. These are for my grandmother who has enormous bunions (don't worry, Grams doesn't have internet access so she'll never know I'm talking about her freakish feet) so I did a round toe instead of the pattern's toe hoping to give her more room for her weird ass feet.

P.S. Yes, that's the PUPPY in the background. She's not very smart, but if she does one thing well, it's grow. Last weight check she was 70 lbs. She is eight months old.

Ah, what the hell. Here, have a picture of her too.

Some FOs

2006-05-12T02:21:00.000-07:00

Did my first lace shawl for my mother. The pattern is Lucy Neatby's Faroese Flower Shawl. It was a very fun knit, and what a great well-written pattern. I would definitely recommend it. The yarn is Blackberry Ridge Fingering in Loden. A very huge THANK YOU goes out to Betty who surprised me with the kit at Christmas. She's awesome. We love Betty.

Also, I have a felted tote bag. The yarn for this bag has been knit up and ripped out so many times, as you can see below. Anyway, it's finally a FO! The pattern is Glampyre's Felted Tote with Skulls and I think mine came out better than the one pictured in the pattern. The yarn is Knitpicks Wool of the Andes, and I used a tiny bit of Bernat Frenzy at the top.

I also have a few pairs of socks finished that just haven't made it into pictures yet. One pair is lost in the mountain of laundry somewhere, and the other I can't keep off DH's feet long enough to take a picture of!

Anyway, that's it for now. Currently working on a Kiri with Knitpicks Alpaca Cloud. I'm using size 1 needles instead of the needle size called for in the pattern. I swatched with a bunch of different sizes and they all looked like shit except for the size 1, so itty bitty yarn with little bitty needles it is. I'm guesstimating I'll have to do 16-18 pattern repeats to get it to the size I want. Not too bad.

Also, I'm still plugging away at the Triangles in Triangles shawl. That one's in Knitpicks Shadow, color Oregon Coast. Man, I love this yarn.

Finally I have four (blush) pairs of socks on the needles. What can I say? I love socks! And here in the fifth layer of hell, also known as "Texas anytime but January," it's something I can actually wear. I finally decided to join the rest of knittingblogland in making a pair of Jaywalkers. Those are being done in Knitpicks Sock Garden Pansy. Lovely stuff. I think they're discontinuing it, though, and that makes me a sad panda. Then I have a Broadripple in Knitpicks Dancing Ballet. That's for my 90-year-old grandmother. I hope she likes them. :)

Uh, what else. Oh, then I decided to try the two socks on one circ method, and I'm making a modified Fancy Silk Sock from Knitting Vintage Socks in Knitpicks Sock Memories Easter. I call them my Finding Nemo socks, because that's just what the colors remind me of, plus the little lace pattern looks like bubbles in an aquarium.

And finally a really cool fair isle sock that uses one solid color and one self-striping yarn to achieve a really neat effect. I'll have to get some pics of the WIPs, and I promise to stop neglecting my blog.

Gee, looking at this entry, you'd think I like Knitpicks, huh? I'm all for supporting local economy and all that jazz, but with gas being 3.00 a gallon there's no way I'm driving an hour away to the nearest LYS. LOL I really wish someone would open a LYS here in my town. Actually, I really wish I had the balls, resources and know-how to do it, but naaaaaaah.

Auction goodies

2005-09-10T12:53:00.000-07:00

So we're having an auction on Twinshock to benefit the hurricane victims. Here's my offerings. I must say, this bag is SO freakin' cute. Another one is in the works for ME.

First we have a cute little crocheted star baby blanket. This one is going to stay with me. I'll be making a custom one for the winner. This thing was a BITCH to start, but once I got going on it, it was so easy it was boring.

Next, moving right along, we have a dildo cozy. Every woman in America needs one of these. If you have any *ahem* glassware, you know what I'm talking about. It has a convenient drawstring handle. Oh, I guess you could probably use it as a water bottle carrier, too, if you're a prude.

And now, for image overload. My purse. *choir of angels*

This is a ripoff of the ridiculously expensive Margaret Nicole bags. As seen on Sex in the City and in Vogue Magazine. Ooh-la-la.

The front:

A close up of the front because the color's not really true in the others, but it is in this blurry one:

Here's a look at the inside with a well-known object for perspective:

And here's a look at the liner and outside together. I really did find the perfect fabric.

One last look. Loves it!

I've been a verah busy girl

2005-06-09T19:08:00.000-07:00

I love Knit Picks' Andean Silk. I want to marry it. Here's what I've been up to. Plus I finished the first panel of my baby blanket. Weeeeeeee! One down, six to go. If someone were to get pregnant right now, I'd have the perfect first birthday present for their baby at the rate I'm going. LOL

That one is the Silk Twist in Prairie. Drool.

Oh, and I finally got out my bead board after months of neglecting it. Knitting is so much more fun than making jewelry, but making jewelry nets faster results. And pretty too!

Yyyyyyyyeah, about that bag

2005-05-27T13:30:00.000-07:00

Frogged. Wugh.

Well, see, I was thinking about frogging it anyway, because it's just mammoth. I mean really. I was sitting there looking at it yesterday after I took pictures of it, and I realized that it covered the entire chair cushion. Okay? That's too big. So while I was thinking about frogging it, my darling sweet brat -- er, son got ahold of it and took the needle out. An act of God, wouldn't you say? Question answered. Bag frogged. Here it is today.

I'm going to have a go at it again with about 20 less stitches cast on. Hopefully that'll be enough to make it not so Godzilla-ish. Plus I realized as I was frogging it and looking at the pattern again that I decreased instead of increasing at the very top of it. Duh. So all in all, a good move, but I was sad to see all those stitches ripping out. That was a butt-ton of stitches.

2005-05-27T01:22:00.000-07:00

Here's the bag I'm knitting, which because I wanted a fairly large bag, and because this will be felted, is hereforth known as the Ginormousass Bag.

The color of the pink in that picture is not at all accurate. This is closer, and it's also a demonstration of what a cat can do to a nice ball of yarn in about 10 seconds.

Don't tell my husband

2005-05-23T19:22:00.000-07:00

I ordered MORE yarn today. Yes, more! What the hell is wrong with me? I got some of the KnitPicks Andean Silk in Pitch, Olive and Sangria, and then some Silk Twist in Prairie. *drool* I'm going to make some more kerchiefs for some gals on my twins board with that. I can't wait to dig my fingers in it. It's going to be sooooooooooo soft and yummy. Just so ya know, "SOCKS" is a code for free shipping. ;) I had to order some to make sure it works. Yeah, that's it.

Part of the point of having a blog...

2005-05-23T13:05:00.000-07:00

... is updating it. Yes, I actually do realize this. LOL

I'm working on a felted bag with the KnitPicks Wool of the Andes. It's coming out pretty cool. It's my first knitting-in-the-round project, which I LOVE. How cool is it that I can sit there and knit stitch after stitch after stitch after stitch. No turning. No brainpower. No nothing. And then LOOK! Pretty stockinette stitch! I love that. Last night I watched a movie (Weird Australian movie called Visitors. Very strange) and knitted the whole time. I didn't even pay attention to what my hands were doing most of the time. Man, that's a great way to get a lot done. When I would look down, I'd go, "Wow! Look at that!" Maybe I'm just too easily excitable. My camera battery is (guess) CHARGING. Ugh. So I'll take some pics of my works in progress when it's done.

Oh, yes, did I mention then cute little tank top I was making for Harmony? Yes, well, it met an untimely end. See, I found this one knitted tank top of hers (Benetton -- I don't have much bling, so when I find something, I have to flaunt it), and I thought I'd just measure that one, figure out the stitches per inch, and then it would be pretty easy to make a replica. Yeah, you'd think, huh? Here's a little tip for all you knitters out there. If you're going to do that, do not measure the tank top when the two-year-old is wearing it. If you do that, your replica will be WAY small. So I frogged it. I'll do it again when I'm not so into my bag.

R.I.P. little tank top. :(

Wow, I finished something?

2005-05-11T08:46:00.000-07:00

*Faint*

The bad thing about starting fifty bazeeeeeeeeeeellion things at once is that you don't finish things very quickly. The good thing about it is that you finish lots of things at once. :)

Here we go. I'm going to be a huge picture whore here, so if you're on dialup, you bettah just go get a cup of coffee or something. Better yet, get on the phone and order cable while you wait for the page to load.

First my scarf. Oooooh. Ahhhhh.

Details of it. Yes, I'm proud.

And I can even wear it!

Next. I made two kerchiefs from the Stitch N Bitch pattern. This one was in the hateful fuzzy blue yarn I've had forever on size 11 needles, a.k.a. baseball bats.

And lastly, I made a kerchief in the same yarn as the scarf. I'm a bit sick of that yarn now.

But I'm a happy knitter in my new kerchief! Front view:

Back view:

So yay! I accomplished something. Now I can focus on my blanket. Well, I can until my Knitpicks yarn gets here, and then I'm doing a felted bag. And I know I won't be able to wait to start that. Felted bags are the whole reason I started knitting.

In which I redeem myself ... almost

2005-05-07T17:27:00.000-07:00

Here are the pics of my progress. Actually I've even done more on the scarf since this morning when I took the picture. Weeeeeee!

The color is way off on the scarf. It's more of a cranberry, or "Autumn Red" as the yarn manufacturer calls it. Oh well. Such is digital photography.

Progress is being made, I swear

2005-05-07T03:17:00.000-07:00

I suck and I'm weird and I love living in the country.

First why I suck. My friend Betty was going on a trip, and I assured her that when she got back, I'd have my scarf all finished and my blog updated with pictures. Um, yeah. She got back on freaking WEDNESDAY, and you see how I've got the scarf all finished and pics up, right? You don't? Oh, that's because I didn't. I suck. So I went to go get pictures of the (unfinished) scarf and the blanket which has held my knitting attention lately, and the camera battery died. It's 5:00 in the morning, so I'm not going rummaging through everything to find the charger. See, if I had put the charger away, I'd know where it is. But nooooooooooooo, my husband put it away. He has some gene that makes it impossible for him to put anything away in the same place twice. Anyway.

On to why I'm weird. I've found myself fondling my knitting needles. Yes, fondling them. I just sit there with a nice smooth aluminum size 8 in my hand and run my fingers up and down it, up and down, up and down. I think Brian might have gotten a little turned on watching me do this. Heeeeee! I dont' know why. It just feels good in my hand. So, I'm weird.

And I love to live in the country. I love to live in the country. I love it. Love it. Love it, damn it. I have to remind myself of this. Because in the last month, we've had not one, not two, but THREE, count 'em, THREE flat tires. One time it was two at once. Isn't that FUN? Don't you wish you could live in the country and change flat tires on a gravel road TOO? I bet you do. You're just seething in your jealousy, aren't you? Yeah, I know it.

So since I don't have any pictures of my knitting, how about some of my jewelry? Yeah? Okay, talked me into it. To tell you the truth, I haven't even gotten my bead board out in -- let's see, how long have I been knitting? Don't remember, but that long. So here's a few of the last things I made. I was in the mood to play with wire.

Here's a loverly green bracelet that my friend Meagan bought from me. I made her some cute earrings to match.

And here's that bracelet's bastard orange brother:

This is a replica of what I made my mother for Mother's Day. She owns about 50 bazillion t-shirts with the flag on it, so she'll love this.

And some cute little earrings. :)

There. Now I feel like I did something. I still suck, and I need to find the camera batteries, but this'll do for now.

Boy Howdy, look at me go!

2005-04-26T03:09:00.000-07:00

So since I can pretty much tell I'm going to do all right with this pattern, I guess you can see a picture of what it's going to look like.

Ain't it puuuuuurty? :)

And so I finished my first shell. And I didn't even screw it up! I can't believe it! You know, they say RELIEF is spelled ROLAIDS. Not true. Relief is spelled hey-look-I'm-almost-at-the-end-of-the-row-and-have-the-right-amount-of-stitches-left!

I'll put up a picture of my first little complicated pattern shell tomorrow. I'm about to fall over dead. Note the time. Yes, I'm crazy.

Yarn snobs better not read this...

2005-04-25T23:11:00.000-07:00

So I had to buy some yarn today for this gorgeous heirloom baby blanket I want to do. No, no pictures of it yet because I don't want to embarrass myself if I can't do it. Heeeee! As if what I'm about to write isn't embarrassing enough. So I'm doing it in Caron Simply Soft (almost hurts to say it) in an off-white. I'm sorry yarn snobs! I just can't buy 50 bazillion ounces of alpaca blend right now. :( You just wait. I'll show you yarn snobs. This blanket is going to knock your socks off.

Oh yes. And knitting is not doing good things for my marriage. *snicker* Today I had to sneak in 4 skeins of yarn, a pair of circular needles, some tapestry needles, plus the six pairs of straight needles I won on eBay that arrived today. Didn't work. He found them in my office and asked where they came from, then copped some attitude as if my addiction is not worth of spending money on. Pfffffffffft! He can bite me. :)

Insert witty title here

2005-04-24T15:20:00.000-07:00

Here's my first post in my new blog! Weeeeeeeee! I've never blogged before, and I'm not terribly interesting, either. But I do want to have a place to show off my projects. I make jewelry, and it's really fun. I like that I can complete a projet rather quickly and have something cool to wear. I like immediate gratification. OMG You're kidding me. No smilies in this thing? Waaaaaaaaaaaaa! I need smilies! *sniff* I suppose I'll get over it. Eventually. *sniff*

Now, a few weeks ago I was inexplicably overtaken by this intense desire to knit. I blame the Sybermoms Yarn Whores. Damn them. Damn them straight to hell. The Old Beadies got to me first, then the Yarn Whores. Sigh. I really do love them. :) Anyway, so I went to Wally World and got two (2) needles, and a couple skeins of cheap yarn. Yeah, someone should have told me that you don't want to learn to knit with really, really dark blue fuzzy yarn. So back to Wally World I went, where I got a couple balls of Peaches and Cream in pink/white/purple and blue/white/purple. Muuuuuuuuch bettah.

So there I am with my yarn and my needles sitting in front of the computer staring at videos, occasionally cussing the extremely perky woman explaining how I should be doing this. Eventually I got good enough to sit elsewhere, but sometimes I still had to run back to the computer to cuss perky bitch a couple more times. I'm now completely weaned off cussing her, but I still check in on her from time to time to figure out how to do something.

And so the addiction begins. And now I've aptually set up a blog about my crafts. How sad is that? Ha! I didn't even know knitting blogs existed a few short months ago, and if you would have told me about them, I would have said, "Yeeeeeeeeeeeesh! How boring!" But I love, love, love reading knitting blogs now. Like I needed another timesuck. Ha!

So anyway, this blog is about knitting, jewelry-making, and probably a few bits about life in general in between.

2005-04-24T14:17:00.000-07:00

Ooooooooh. Ahhhhhhhh.