kat.prettyposies.com

Since I don't want to talk about the election...

Look at these rings.

I don't think I'm quite that good...

But it's certainly flattering.

You appear to be a Knitting Guru. You love knitting
and do it all the time. While finishing a piece
is the plan, you still love the process, and
can't imagine a day going by without giving
some time to your yarn. Packing for vacation
involves leaving ample space for the stash and
supplies. It can be hard to tell where the yarn
ends and you begin.
http://marniemaclean.com


What Kind of Knitter Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Harlot mail

So I got home from a long day at work the other day, and this is what I found:

Yes, that's an exciting manila envelope. From Canada. From Stephanie. It was really extraordinarily exciting.

This is what was inside:

Yes, that's yarn. Someone sent me yarn in the mail! It's exciting. That's two skeins of gorgeous mohair and a scarf pattern to go with it. And. AND. Two mini-skeins of hand-dyed mohair to give the scarf a little color. Hand-dyed. By the Yarn Harlot herself. I feel so honored. I am not worthy.

Thank you, Stephanie! I love my "harlot comfort."

Thrum thrum thrum!

The thrumalong has begun! Are you in on it? Whyever not? You know you want to.

Unfortunately, I can't start thrumming quite yet as I am a bit more than rather behind on housework at the moment, and there is some pesky paperwork that needs to be finished too. But I will certainly be thrumming just as soon as I can.

And in the meantime, I'm writing a thrumalong theme song:

Come, they told me, tha-rum thrum thrum thrum,
A new mitten to see, tha-rum thrum thrum thrum.
The finest yarns we've seen, tha-rum thrum thrum thrum,
We knit them with the Queen, tha-rum thrum thrum thrum, thrum thrum thrum thrum, thrum thrum thrum thrum.
So to honor her, tha-rum thrum thrum thrum,
When we come.

What does it say about me...

that I have started eating breakfast at work so I can knit in the mornings? It's just effective time management, right? Yeah. Sure.

Recent additions

Now that I have a real job, I can afford to spend money occasionally! I'm behind on showing you what I've acquired.

Last weekend, my wonderful boyfriend agreed to stop at Village Wool in Glastonbury, CT on the way to my aunt's house. I got the Mission Falls 1824 Wool for the Kitty Hat from Stitch 'n Bitch:

I also picked up this:

It's from a local CT farm. (I forget the name. I'll check if anyone cares.) They call it Picasso. Isn't it pretty? What am I going to do with it? It was right next to the sock yarn, which makes me think it might consent to becoming socks. What do you think?

Last night I had fun at Borders:

As you can see, most of those (but not all) are knitting-related. I'll be busy for a while. And I'll try not to deshrink-wrap my calendar until January, I promise.

Hmm. I had more but I think that's enough for tonight. I am working on a special secret project. You will see it soon.

Exciting Sunday

I ended up having quite the exciting Sunday down here in Connecticut. Who knew?

First, I learned how to drive standard...

No, the car is not actually in motion in the picture, but I was successfully not stalling, so that is something. My boyfriend took me to my old middle school parking lot for a lesson. I learned how to go and stop, and how to shift to first and second and back. I only stalled once. Not bad, for my first time, eh?

Then we headed down to New Haven to meet Lauren and her boyfriend Daniel at the Yale Bookstore. Here's our super-secret picture, taken before Daniel arrived:

(It's super-secret because Daniel doesn't know she has a blog. Shhh, don't tell!)

I'm knitting my then almost-finished Fish Ladder Sock, which is now indeed finished, and Lauren is working on Audrey. Audrey was very pretty, and Lauren and Daniel were delightful company. Even my non-knitting boyfriend had fun.

And we'll leave you tonight with a picture of my lovely mother playing Snood.

Mmmm.

Saturday morning. And I don't have to go to work! I get to sit here with my knitting and a big mug of chai and read blogs. Yay.

(I'm still exhausted, by the way. I didn't sleep much last night. Kept dreaming about work.)

We're headed down to visit my family in Connecticut today. I'll try to blog from there, but we'll see. Happy Labor Day if I don't see you first!

I knit one row.

That is the entire total knitting I have managed to get into my day today. Because here's how the day went:

7:00 Wake up, shower, dress
7:40 Eat breakfast while checking e-mail
8:00 Leave for work
8:15 Pick up boyfriend. (We work at the same company and he's more or less on my way, so being the smart environmentally-conscious citizens that we are, we carpool.)
8:35 Arrive at work
Work work work. Learn about KVM switches and USB 2.0 DataBanks.
12:15 Go to lunch
12:20 Pick up boyfriend
12:25 Get to cafeteria, buy lunch
12:30 Eat
12:45 Drop off boyfriend; see what KVM switch is.
1:00 Put new work sticker on car
1:10 Start working again.
Work work work. Learn about power supplies and server switches and Adjustable Server Racks and video cards. Discover that a new local movie theater has mistakenly put my new work phone number on their Web site. Send e-mail to said theater asking that they fix this. Tell lots of people that no, I'm not the movie theater.
5:45 Boyfriend arrives. Leave work.
6:00 Drop boyfriend off. Decide to go in.
6:40 Leave for home.
6:45 Stop at gas station.
7:00 Get home.
7:15 Start working on freelance assignment.
Work work work. Read a few e-mails and blogs in between pieces of assigment.
11:50 Finish freelance assignment.
11:55 Knit one row on scarf (see? see?) while e-mailing completed files.
12:00 Stay up even later blogging about it.

So yes, the new job is good, but apparently makes me very busy. When could I have fit in more knitting? I'll try for lunch. (Yeah, there's that mysterious 6:00-6:40 block, but let's just leave that alone for now, shall we?) Tomorrow night, I just have to do laundry and housework, so let's hope for a better result then. Because really, who ever did housework when they could be knitting?

Thank you, Stephanie,

for giving me something to make my evening a little less horrible.

I have survived my first two days of work, and the job itself is going pretty well. I think I'm going to like it a lot. But the beginning is stressful, as all new jobs are, trying to make a good impression and learn everything all at once. In this case, not only do I need to learn how to do what I'm supposed to do, but also about the content. ("Umm... it's asking me for the Removable Data Transfer Rate, but the site doesn't say, and I don't really know how that's different from the Data Transfer Rate. And there's a range. And what's the SCSI Interface Transfer Rate got to do with anything?" etc.) So by the time I got home, I was pretty tired/drained.

And then.

1. My copy of my apartment lease has disappeared. Apparently, the address of my leasing company does not exist anywhere else. Tomorrow is the first of the month, so rent is due. This is Very Very Bad.

2. My credit card claims I never paid it last month. Now, I thought I paid it. I have written down in my check register that I paid it. But I don't have the confirmation page I usually save. And the company says I didn't pay it. And the money is still sitting in my checking account. So maybe I didn't pay it. It was right before I left for vacation, when I was doing three million things at once, so it's possible that I didn't actually hit "submit" or something. It's only an extra $7 or so, so it's not really a Very Very Bad Thing, but more of an I Am An Idiot thing, and those aren't fun either.

On top of that, my freelance assignment isn't going very well. It's not that it's hard, really, I'm just... totally uninspired. Mental block. Something. Maybe it's because I've spent all day trying to write things I don't understand, and now I'm coming home and trying to write things I only sort of understand. Huh, you think?

So I have a new plan for the evening. I'm going to go to jaQ's. I'm going to cuddle up on the couch with my kitten and my boyfriend and my sock. We will watch Northern Exposure, and I will knit. And that will make everything better. Right?

P.S. I apologize profusely for the link that never ended in this entry yesterday. Why didn't someone tell me? Please, when I do something that stupid, let me know.

My new obsession

Remember how I said I had added a shawl to the need-to-make-for-Christmas list? This is actually instead of one of the stitching projects--I wasn't really finding a "Home Sweet Home" chart I liked, and so I decided that my aunt, having just moved back to Connecticut from New Orleans, would really have more use for a nice warm wool shawl, anyway.

I couldn't really find a pattern I liked, though. I wanted something interesting but warm (so not lace) but not too too hard. (This is supposed to be done by Christmas, after all.) So I decided to take the leap and design something myself. I decided to do basic dishcloth-type shaping to make a triangle, but to add in tons of cables. Because I like cables, and my aunt likes Celticy things, so cables make sense. Right? Right.

I had this brainstorm right before jaQ was headed over to pick me up for dinner and mini golf, but that didn't stop me. I cast on right away and got a bit of the way in before he arrived. And I was hooked.

Now, I had just read Stephanie's story in Knitlit Too. Far from making me wary of combining knitting with sports, though, it made me really want to try. (What can I say, I love a challenge.) But when I cautiously mentioned the idea to jaQ, he shot it down immediately. "You don't actually need hands to skate," he pointed out (logically, I must admit). Hands are necessary for mini golf. So my sock did not come golfing with me.

This meant that I spent much of the golfing downtime working on the shawl. (In my head, of course.) It clicked. When we got home, I ripped out what I had started and got it going again. I stayed up way too late, but I couldn't help it. I was addicted. I thought about it all day at work the next day, and have been knitting it whenever possible since.

Isn't it pretty? I'm alternating braids, spirals, and cables. I'm slightly worried about having enough yarn to make it big enough, but we'll see. I suppose it could always be a scarf instead if I run out.

I have pictures of other WIPs, but I think I'll wait and post those tomorrow. The shawl is calling.

Somebody stop me, please.

So, remember what I said about not planning much Christmas knitting? Apparently the knit-planning part of my brain did not hear that. I was bored at work and, umm, elaborated on my list again. So here's the current plan: three scarves, a sweater, a shawl, a headband/wristwarmer set, a pair of socks, a dog blanket, three monkeys, and a partridge in a pear tree. (Yes, the monkeys are for real. Well, knitted, for my three little cousins, but real. But no, neither the partridge nor pear tree are.) I think I should get knitting, no?

I got started on my shopping today--got the yarn for one scarf, and ordered yarn for the sweater. I took exciting post-LYS pictures for you, but alas, the picture card reader is in my boyfriend's laptop, so those will have to wait until the next entry.

Holiday Gift Plans, Updated

Well. I realized today that I had promised another of my supervisors that I would make her a Skully sweater from Stitch 'n Bitch. I told her today that it might not be ready by Christmas, which is fine with her, but of course I still want to try, since I'm insane like that.

Also found a scarf pattern to do for my mom. It's the Orenberg-Style Scarf from the Fall 2004 IK. If you scroll down on that page to the "Staff Scarves," it's in that one. It's all pretty and lacy and looks like lots of fun.

Boston Knit-Out!

It's coming up on September 12, and I'm getting excited! I'm hoping to finish a pair of socks to wear. I'm currently on the gusset decreasing of the first sock, so we'll see. I'll post a picture when I finish the first, I promise.

So, who else will be at this event?

Packing Update 3: Knitting stuff?

Okay. My knitting is packed, but I feel like I'm forgetting something. In a Ziploc bag in my carry-on I've got yarn, needles, pattern, and yarn needle. Yarn for a second pair of socks is in my suitcase. I'll be wearing my Clover cutter around my neck. What am I forgetting???

Update on reading material: in addition to the two books, I now have the June issue of Glamour, this week's Magazine and Book Review from the New York Times, and the May 10 New Yorker. I think I'm set, huh?

I think I'm going to call it a day (well, night) pretty soon and finish up tomorrow. I have a list of stuff to get at Walgreens during lunch, so I can pack that up after work and throw in last-minute stuff. And this way I can actually get some sleep tonight, theoretically.

I hate packing. I'm not panicking too much, though. But what am I forgetting? I know I must be forgetting something.

NH Sheep and Wool Festival

Well, as I mentioned, I went to NHS&W yesterday. Fun fun fun! A bit overwhelming, honestly. There was just so much and it was all so great!

One of my favorite sights:

My big excitement was that I learned how to spin, and I am now the proud owner of my very own CD drop spindle from Things by Jeanne! It took me a while, but I'm finally starting to get it.

Getting a spindle, of course, means needing a spinning stash. When I saw all of The Fiber Fetish's gorgeous stuff, I couldn't not get anything.

I also fell victim to some gorgeous sock yarn in yummy pumpkiny autumn colors, from Dorchester Farms:

All in all, it was a fabulous day, and I came home very inspired to knit and spin.

Traveling socks (Win a postcard!)

To knit, that is, not to wear. (Although I suppose if I finish them...)

I've decided that socks are the correct project for my upcoming trip to New Orleans. They're small and interesting but not too difficult for picking up and putting down during little bits of time, while waiting, etc.

So. I have a few questions. Anyone who answers (and sends me their address, of course) wins a postcard from New Orleans!

1. I have Regia for one pair. I'd like to bring enough yarn for two. I want something else I can use with my size 2 DPNs. Affordable but nice. I'm not opposed to more Regia, but should I try another brand? And any favorite colorways?

2. Patterns! I want to bring a few in case I end up not liking one. I want them to be not too plain but not too hard either. Preferably free. Recommendations??

3. I know, I know, it's been done to death... but opinions: should I try to bring my knitting on the plane in my carry-on or just pack it in my luggage? I'll have Brittany DPNs. The airports involved are Bradley (Hartford/Springfield) and whatever it is in New Orleans, if that matters.

And a bonus question...

4. Any yarn stores I should look for in New Orleans? Or any other recommendations on where to go? I'll have limited "free time," but some. I'm staying at St. James Hotel--things within walking/public transportation distance would be great, because then I wouldn't have to talk other members of my party into accompanying me, and I'd get some time alone.

So. E-mail me with answers to any of these questions and win a postcard!

P.S. There will be ways for you non-knitting types to win postcards too. Stay tuned.

Otis, front one!

Isn't it pretty? I'm very happy with it. I'm several inches in to the other front. Now I just have to figure out where the heck in the pattern I am, and make sure that I didn't do anything horrible during my 2 am knitting sessions. (Well, that's when my lunch break was, so when was I supposed to knit?) Wish me luck!

Knitting at CafePress

There are so many shirts and bumper stickers and stuff I want from CafePress stores. Today I discovered Knitters Against Bush. And then there's Knitting is Sexy. And Gibson Girl Designs, with the nifty Knitting in Public stuff. And, of course, Knitty. There are just too many to choose from there. Hmm. I know there are others.

Let's search CafePress and find out! (Note: in the minireviews below, I've mostly left out the stores that have just a bunch of things with their site's logo, unless it's a phrase/picture interesting for another reason. Not that there's anything wrong with these stores; I'm just not terribly interested in things referring to Web sites I've never seen.)

The Knitting Gift Store -- Lots of different designs, although most are a bit cartoony for me. I do like some of their knitting hands designs.
Born to Knit -- I love it! Not sure I'd actually wear it, but I love it!
Notecards for Knitters -- Cute! I like them all, but my favorite is the sweater on the door.
The Sock Drawer -- Cute logo, but it isn't really clear that the socks are handknit.
Knitters Anonymous -- Simple, but nice.
Mad Love Knits -- Knitting and cats--what could be better?
Snowflake Knits -- Pretty designs. I love snowflakes.
Will Knit for Food -- Just one product at the moment, but it's one of the best I've seen. Adding this one to my "definitely!" list.
Yarnaholic Confessions -- Cute! I like the stash police mug.
Craft-a-holic -- Simple, elegant, all too true.
Have You Any Wool -- I like their "Got Yarn?" design.
Chicago Stitch 'n Bitch -- Love this logo! I'll have to do something for the Nashua Stitch 'n Bitch once we get a bit bigger/more permanent.
Mrs. Stone's Knitter's Treasures -- Historical knitting! I love it, of course.
Knitting-and.com Store -- Great "I knit, therefore I am" stuff, and I love the journal, too.
CraftyGrrl -- Not specifically knitting, but I love their geek girl shirt.
Knitting Zen -- Gorgeous logo, and even an Elizabeth Zimmerman mug.
Knit Loud -- Knit loud and knit often, and be proud of it!
Blue Rose Images -- Beautiful yarn pictures.

Whew. That's a lot. What a creative bunch we knitters are! But then, we knew that already. Favorites? Knitters Against Bush, Knitting is Sexy, and Knitty still, with the addition of Mad Love Knits and Will Knit for Food. And I've decided that once this site gets its new name and all, I'll definitely have to start one of these.

In other knitting news: one front of Otis is done! Which front, you ask? How should I know? The one the pattern said to make first, of course. I'm way too stressed to remember things like that. But whatever it is, it's done and looking pretty great, if I do say so myself. I was all set to take a picture for you, but my camera batteries were dead. They're charging now. Pictures tomorrow!

I've had to cast on no less than four times for the other front, as the tail kept being either too long or too short. Yeah, did I mention I'm stressed? Anyway, I'm now successfully cast on and knitting. We'll see how it goes.

Who's up for a knitalong or three?

Umm, yeah. Not that I'm starting too much all at once or anything. But. Well. You'll understand shortly.

1. Thuy e-mailed me a few times asking about a bpt knitalong, so I figured I'd better get around to starting one up. ;-) No, really, I don't mind. I'd thought about it myself, and just been too lazy to do anything about it. But if we can get at least one more person, we can make it an official knitalong. I'm sure someone else out there must be working on this . . . right? (My own is on hold for a few weeks, but I'll be back to it soon.)

2. Another project currently obsessing me is the Peace Shawl from Fiber Trends. I'm finding it both addictive and frustrating as heck, so I think I need a support group. Therefore, I'm starting the Crazy Lace Knitalong. Is "crazy lace" descriptive enough, or do you think I need to be more specific when I write about it? I mean things like this and other Fiber Trends shawls, Stephanie's Snowdrop Shawl, etc. Stuff with laceweight yarn and lots of swearing at the teensy little stitches that won't behave. Anyone up for it? Come on, you know you want to! Join the knitting masochists!

3. As I wrote on Monday, I've decided I need to knit Otis from the most recently Knitty by May 12 to bring on my trip to New Orleans. It's going swimmingly so far. Anyone want to join me in the race?

Come on! I'm giving you all sorts of options here. You know you want to join at least one. :-) Anyone who joins all three gets a prize!

Yarn store adventures

On Monday afternoons, I generally take a trip to the yarn store. Mondays are my day off, and, although all the yarn store ladies I've met are nice, I try to go in when the one I know best/connect with most is there. And she's there Mondays, so I go in. (I'm generally walking downtown anyway, so how could I not?) She doesn't complain when I stay and talk for a few hours and then only buy a stitch marker and some needles or something, so it's nice.

Today, though, I wasn't just going in for fun. I had a purpose! I knew as soon as I saw the spring Knitty that I would just have to make Otis. In fact, I knew this before I actually knew of Otis, as I'd been looking for a pattern like that for a few months. I was going to wait a while, though, until I finished bpt. But. First of all, I got money as Easter gifts, and discovered that I'm getting an unexpected tax refund. And then, this morning, came the clincher. I realized that I'm going on vacation next month, to New Orleans, even, and I haven't knit anything to bring! Yes, I have been told that it is godawfully hot in New Orleans in mid-May. But. Well. You understand, don't you, kindred knitters? And Otis is perfect to bring on such a trip, as it is designed to be slipped on over sleeveless things in over-air conditioned places. I might actually need it. Right?

So. The race is on. Can I knit and totally finish this sweater in 24 days? We'll see. At least it's fairly small, as sweaters go. (Needless to say, other WIPs will be on hold for a bit, although I will post some progress pics soon of some of them.)

After much deliberation, and with much help from yarn store employees and fellow customers, I decided on the purple shade of the Rowan Summer Tweed (which was, of course, the first one I noticed).

As I said, that (plus a stitch marker--I get a different one each time I'm there) was all I'd intended to buy. But then I started looking at the 40% off bin with a few other customers, and I found this:

That's Colorado Yarns Knitaly, and the colors aren't nearly as Christmassy as the picture makes them look. What looks like red there is really much closer to pink. The combination reminds me of raspberries, somehow, so I think I'll call it the raspberry sweater. Whatever I make from it, that is. I want to try fair isle--any suggestions on an easy two-color fair isle pattern I can put on the yoke?

I also got this to make a few Afghan squares:

Plus, of course, a stitch marker--a pretty little pearl one to go on the lace shawl that I'll be writing about soon. I have a lot to write about, actually, including the following:

* Knit for yourself and be proud of it!
* Two new knitalongs
* Contest entries so far
* And the real "evil empire" invading Boston (no, it's not the Yankees)

But I'm going to be late for Stitch 'n Bitch, so it'll have to wait. Aren't you just, umm, suspended in suspense? Come back tomorrow for more!

Finally getting around to this quiz...

You are Merino Wool.
You are very easygoing and sweet. People like to
keep you close because you are so softhearted.
You love to be comfortable and warm from your
head to your toes.


What kind of yarn are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Well, that was exciting . . .

Hello there! Hope everyone had a good Easter. I'm starting to catch up a little from being away, etc.

Some non-knitting, but exciting, content first. My book club meets tonight, so I came home from the LYS (more on that later) all ready to sit down and finish the book. I put on the kettle for some tea, and went to turn on the computer. When I glanced back toward the stove, the burner seemed unusually bright. I ran over, and it wasn't the burner. There were flames. And it wasn't the burner on fire. It was a mixing bowl. Yes, I'd turned on the wrong burner for my tea. The burner I turned on held a plastic mixing bowl, wooden spoon, and glass measuring cup waiting to be washed. (The stove is right next to the sink, and there's no where else to put dirty dishes, really.)

I wasn't too worried at first. I've seen a minor stove fire or two before, and I figured I'd just get it right out. That didn't seem to be happening, though. After about five minutes of the fire getting very very slightly bigger, I figured I'd better just go for it and call 911. They got here in about 5-10 minutes, but I'd managed to get it out by then. Here's what's left:

Fun, huh? At least I have a good excuse for not finishing the book club book.

In knitting news: I went to the LYS and decided on the Peace Shawl for my lovely shawl wool I got in Italy. Anyone else want to do this? We could make it a sort of "Knitters for Peace" Knitalong. Wouldn't that be fun? Come on, you know you want to. It's pretty! And peaceful! What more could you ask for?

My new Stitch 'n Bitch friend Caren has a new blog! Go read!

Jumping after the bandwagon . . .

So. I find I have somehow joined the Charlotte's Web Knit Behind as well as Sitcom Chic Redux. (Yes, I'll get the buttons up soon.) The Koigu for Charlotte's Web is going to be my treat for getting my taxes done, so I'll probably be ordering that next week. Exciting. And I have yarn I can use for Sitcom Chic, if I can convince myself to buy the Sport/DK version of the pattern. It's not that I don't think it's worth it or anything, it's just that I feel bad spending money when there's the free Knitty version. Oh well. If I were to use the Knitty version, I'd have to spend even more to buy new yarn, whereas I have some sportweight I can use. So. Yeah. Will I ever join a knitalong the first time around? We'll see . . .

In the mean time, here's the promised bpt progress pic:

And this was supposed to be a closeup of the stitch texture, but it's a bit fuzzy. Oh well. You might like it anyway.

In other words, I've been stressed and sick the past few days, so that's why there hasn't been much posting. But tonight I'm going to bed early so hopefully tomorrow I'll be all better!

My LYS rocks!

I somehow managed to leave my wallet there this afternoon (and I never do things like that), and not only did the lady working there stay at the store until she got ahold of me (I left about closing time and went to the library before going home), but she also insisted on driving it to me on her way home.

Also, this afternoon, I planned to just go for a few minutes, to get some stitch holders and look around a bit, and ended up staying over an hour, talking and looking at patterns. I even got to teach a few people how to YO! (AND managed to teach them with the yarn in my right hand, even though I knit Continental.) I picked out a whole bunch of potential patterns (all by FiberTrends, oddly enough) for my Italy shawl, so next week I'll bring the yarn in and go through the binder again and maybe pick the best three, and buy those (because I'll want to make them eventually). And then we can have a vote, perhaps! Won't that be fun?

Nashua Stitch 'n Bitch tonight at Borders! Don't forget! My bpt progress pics might wait until tomorrow, depending on what time I get home.

Baby sock success!

Aren't they cute? I really enjoyed making these, and I even have another skein for a pair for the next baby who comes along. Here they are all wrapped up. So yeah, that shower was today, and I even finished the socks two hours before the party started! Aren't you proud? Everyone oohed and ahhed over them, and the mom-to-be seemed to like them. I'm glad I decided to go--spending time with knitters is always good, and I got to meet some more knitters around here.

Here are my best helpers helping me wind the yarn for these:

They're just as cute as the socks, now, aren't they?

Now that the socks are done, it's back to your regularly scheduled bpt updates. Tomorrow I'll give you a new progress picture, plus a review of the new Knitty as well as some other current magazines I recently bought. For now, I'll leave you with this:

-----BEGIN KNITTER'S GEEK CODE BLOCK-----
Version: 1.1
KCR++ Exp+ SPM+>+ Wood++ Bam++@ Syn- Nov Cot+ Wool++ Lux Hemp> Stash(-+) Scale++>+ Fin Ent> FI Int> Tex++ Lace+ Felt> Flat Circ++ DPN++ ML? Swatch->+ KIP+++ Blog++ SNB+++ EZ+ FO+ WIP++ Gauge@ ALTCr- Q> X+ Em Sw> Wv> Sp>
------END KNITTER'S GEEK CODE BLOCK------

Baby Sock Progress

These baby socks are just flying along--I'm done with the first already! And it's a good thing, too, because the shower is on Sunday. I should be able to finish #2 at the open mic tomorrow night, which is good, because I'm going to a Bachelorette Shower on Saturday and knitting a baby sock there might be rather . . . odd?

Extra points to anyone who can identify the book serving as a lovely backdrop.

I'm not entirely happy with how the Kitchener on the toe came out, but I think it's passable. It's been a while since I Kitchenered, and this is fairly thick yarn for a little sock, so I think that's part of why it's a bit bumpy. I'm liking this yarn a lot, except for its tendency to split a bit.

On to sock number two! Let's see if I can make them both in one skein of yarn!

In the "be careful what you wish for" category . . .

Bunnies. No. Sorry. That's an inside joke from work, and I don't think anyone who reads here will get it except maybe jaQ. Anyway. Moving on . . .

Remember how I wrote a few days ago that I needed more people to have babies so I could knit cute kid stuff? Well, my LYS is having a baby shower for the owner's daughter. And I decided that I should get over my shyness and just go, because I can meet people, and invite them to our S&B, and even if my normal dislike of crowds/parties kicks in, I mean really. It's in a yarn store. How bad could it be?

So, of course, I need a gift for the shower. At first I was thinking I'd just knit up a hat from something in stash, but it seemed that all I had available that wasn't very blue (they don't know the baby's gender) was this yucky acrylic dollar store teal stuff. And really, I couldn't make something out of that and bring it to the yarn store.

Soooo. I decided that I needed to buy some yarn at the yarn store from which to make a gift. This was perfectly good reasoning, don't you think? And I hadn't bought any yarn in . . . a month? About that. And I don't even remember the last time before that. Baby socks (oh yeah, I switched from a hat to socks because they're more interesting) just take a little bit of yarn, so they're the perfect thing to splurge on. I found an easy pattern online to try, and went to the store in search of variegated cotton worsted weight something. And here is what I found:

The colors are more vibrant than the picture makes them look--beautiful blues and greens that look like the ocean. I'm hoping it will only take one hank but I got two just in case--perhaps I can return one if I don't need it. Even with two, it was under $10, which was the limit I set. (I don't want to be stingy, but I don't really know these people, and I have no money. So.)

For the next few days, then, bpt will have to share my attention. Hopefully it will be okay with this. I've explained that I still love it, but that I need to make some itty bitty baby socks that won't take any time at all, and that they have a deadline so they have to come first. I think it understands.

Isn't it cute?

As part of my bpt adventures, I made my first center pull ball today!

I'm so happy with it. Let's hope it actually "pulls" correctly... I think it will. I followed the instructions from Stitch 'n Bitch, and it really wasn't too hard.

Speak of which, our first Nashua Stitch 'n Bitch meeting was tonight! There were three of us, and we had lots of fun. You should join us next week. I'm really excited about the prospects for this group. Finally! People nearby with whom to knit!

bpt progress

This bpt sweater is addictive. I've been knitting as much as possible all weekend, and here's where we are:

(Click to see it bigger.)

I'm about half done with the yoke. It's exciting. My bpt also now has its own page where you can see all the pictures of its progress as well as some commentary about it.

I'm really enjoying the cables. Cables are still new enough to me to seem like magic. This doesn't mean that I don't understand how they work, but just that I'm amazed I can make something like that. I'm also finally really feeling like I "get" how the pattern is coming together, and that's exciting. I want to be able to design things, and I really need to understand sweater construction better for that. I'm on my way!

Announcing . . . the Nashua, NH Stitch 'n Bitch!

That's right! I've decided to finally just jump in and start one. I was going to do some research, ask around, wait, etc., but for various reasons, including enthusiastic coworkers and the personal need to actually take the initiative on something, we're going to just start. And our first meeting is . . . tomorrow! That's right, we're diving right in. If you can't make it on such short notice, though, don't worry . . . new members are always welcome! So here are the details:

Who: Anyone who knits or wants to learn! Other fiber artists are welcome too.
What: Weekly Stitch 'n Bitch
When: Mondays at 7 pm. The cafe is open until 10, so show up any time in there.
Where: Borders Cafe, 281 Daniel Webster Highway, Nashua, NH. It's next to Bob's Discount Furniture, behind Chili's.

If you have any questions or need directions, please e-mail me! I hope to hear from you or see you soon!

Knitting on.

A combination of work and personal stuff had me feeling rather blah after work today--after all, it was Friday night and I didn't have plans, or anyone to make plans with, or any money to go do something myself. And today was my manager's last day; he's moving to Idaho and I'm going to miss him tons. Anyway. I was not happy.

So I decided to eschew housework and whatever else I should be doing and spend the evening reading blogs and working on bpt (for which a page will be coming soon). I caught up on the blogs I link, started making a list of more links to add, and discovered that Stephanie Pearl-McPhee has a blog now! I also got several rows of the sweater done and finally feel as though I'm understanding what's going on in it. And I'm rediscovering the magic of cables. Some day soon I must knit an aran.

And guess what? I'm feeling much better now. After all, how bad can life be with so many amazing things to knit and amazing knitters to know?

Actual knitting-related pictures!

I decided today that I really had to start the bpt. I had the circ I needed, but I needed to get a real cable needle and some stitch markers. So on my way home from the bank, I stopped by my LYS to pick some up. I saw the regular boring stitch markers, but then by the register I saw a bowl of "jewel stitch markers"--not all jewels, but all interesting. So I picked out four:

(That's a cat, penguin, llama, and teapot, in case you can't tell.)

And I think I'm going to start a collection. I'll put them in a glass bowl and they can be a decoration when they're not in use. So. Anyone know any sources for nifty stitch markers?

I started bpt while watching the figure skating world championships tonight. Here are the first two rows, complete with stitch markers!

Not much so far, but the directions were a little confusing, so I'm proud of myself.

To ensure the survival of the human race...

... or at least of my knitting adventures, I have decided that people I like should have babies more frequently. There are just way too many cute baby and kid patterns that I want to knit. I picked up the most recent Family Circle Easy Knitting today, and there are cute cute cute kids' intarsia sweaters in there that might just make me overcome my dislike of color work, if only I knew a kid to knit for. Ah well. More and more people I know are getting married, so they're bound to start reproducing eventually.

You think lace is hard?

Just imagine knitting with this:

Yarn spun from nanotubes: Tiny tubes may yield ultrastrong fibres.

Inspiration...

One of the most exciting things about my new apartment is that it is close enough to downtown to let me walk to most of the interesting places on/around Main Street. This includes the library, and, yes, the yarn store. Yeah, I told you it was exciting. Today is my first day off in the new place, so I braved the sleet and slippery streets to walk to the library and LYS. I'm liking this LYS more and more, especially now that it's so close. (My other LYS is about 40 minutes away.) I wandered around for a while, getting all sorts of inspiration for sweaters and shawls and socks and stuff. Of course, I have plenty of yarn I want to use first. But yeah. Someday I will go in there and buy myself yarn to make a sweater. Really. I will.

I got two skeins of Regia for Christmas, so I can finally try those nifty socks! Since most of my needles are still packed, this seemed like the perfect excuse to buy some new needles and start my new socks. And at the library, along with some books, of course, I got the first Wives of Henry VIII DVD to play on my new DVD player. So after I do some unpacking this afternoon I'm going to curl up with my new yarn and watch and knit. And drink tea, probably. Doesn't that sound like a great afternoon?

You know you knit too much when . . .

. . . there's a really cute guy volunteering at the gift wrap table at work, and every time you walk by you can't help but look at--his sweater. (It was pretty! Lots of cables. I love cables.) Sigh. Is this why I haven't been on a date in over a year?

In other knitting news, the ridiculous amount of Christmas knitting is meandering along, but not as quickly as I'd like. I did get to cut out one project, though--found something else to give that person. Yay!

Stress knitting

Soo much stress. Moving and holidays and everything else. And I'm not dealing with it well at all. Usually I work pretty well under pressure. This time I'm just wanting to curl up on the couch and knit. And not even knit any of the Christmas gifts I have to do. Knit other things.

Speaking of which. Knitted gifts. I was going to do precisely one this year. I don't like deadlines with knitting because knitting is supposed to be relaxing. But. I keep thinking of more people I need gifts for. And I have more excess yarn than excess money. So I'm going to try and knit a bunch of hats and slippers and stuff. Wrist warmers? Scarves? We'll see. It'll be fun, right? Right. I'll just stop sleeping.

Sweater Progress

Still knitting away. Here's the promised picture of the sweater back I finished Friday night:

I'm so proud of it! I didn't get to knit it yesterday because I was out all day (computer show and then work), but I started the front today and this is where I am so far. It's going quickly. I like it.

Yesterday I did bring a scarf along and got a bit done while waiting in the car, waiting for food at the restaurant, etc. It's ribbed in a green/blue color of Caron Fascination--just yarn I had around, and I started it when I needed a mindless project for watching The Two Towers on Thanksgiving. Well, I had it in at work on Friday and one of my bosses saw it and fell in love with the colors. So she shall get it for Christmas. And perhaps a matching hat, if I have time. And maybe even wristwarmers, if I have lots of time. (Time? Me? What?)

Oh, and you should scroll down and look at my pretty Christmas tree in the entry before this. Nothing knitted on it yet, but I'm thinking about it. While staying up way too late knitting and reading blogs. Because it's my day off, darn it.

Sweater lust

I have made this confession before, but I might as well make it again as a preface to what follows: although I have been knitting for years, I have never finished a sweater. I've started several, but never gotten terribly far. This has bothered me, but not too much. Until recently.

In the past few days, I've suddenly come to really really need to knit sweaters. Lots of them. Different types. I'm not really sure why this is. The new Knitty, my recent compulsive knitting, my current addiction to Glampyre Knits--I'm sure these are all involved. I've been reading Stefanie's archives, and when I came across this, it just . . . clicked. I get it now! I get sweaters! Finally! Yay! And I really want to try a sweater using that recipe, but I want to make it all fun and stripey and I don't have the yarn right now. So I did the next best thing . . .

I found my most recent sweater attempt and decided to resurrect it. It's the "Basic Sweater" from the first Knit It. It's a beautiful dark pink, and I was almost done with the back. I'd thought there was some reason I'd put it aside, but I couldn't find anything, so I (remarkably easily) figured out where I was and started it up again. And then, of course, I decided that I had to stay up until the back was done, even though I only got three hours of sleep last night and am very very tired.

But I persevered, and now I have a sweater back! Too tired to try to get a picture of it up tonight, but I will tomorrow. I promise. And now I can't wait to cast on for the sweater front! Maybe tomorrow will be one of those mornings when I wake up and get out of bed right away because I want to knit. I like those mornings. It would be good to get it started before I go off to be geeky for the day--jaQ and I are going to a computer show (and IHOP for breakfast). I'm in search of a number pad for my laptop. It should be exciting.

And we do want to get an early start with that, since I have to be back here to work at three, so I think it is time for bed. Good night!

Almost an FO...

Well, the knitting on it is done, at least:

In case you can't tell (and there's no reason you should be able to), it's going to be a cushion, intended for sitting on outside, reducing grass stains and such. It's amazing how much motivation for finishing something appears when I decide I need the needles for something else. This project had been limping along since the spring, I think. It was a skein of Red Heart I've had around for years. I don't use Red Heart much these days, but I really liked the colors, and it will be nice and sturdy for outside use.

And this is the reason behind my sudden need for my 29" size 8 circs to be free. Yesterday I came across a bag of Patons Ballybrae that I realized wanted to be a loose jacketish thing. And, of course, Knitty was my first thought of where to find a pattern. Believe it or not, I think this will be the first Knitty project I've actually started, even though there are several in each issue that I want to start. I'm going to let myself start it once I'm done with my current freelance editing assignment. Yes, I bribe myself unashamedly.