Apology Pie

2011-09-07T16:00:00.000-07:00

This sweater has the potential to be hideous. I am using Koigu mill ends (not superwash) in fingering weight.

I make pretty things.

2011-05-09T09:12:00.000-07:00

I've been able to finish some projects recently.

Baby Chalice Blanket for Kora Luna.

And the cutest hat ever out of the left over yarn.

I am moments away from finishing my Far Away, So Close shawl (I'm on the bind off now.)

Should be done tonight.

Next? I have no idea.

Boring update.

2011-05-03T14:50:00.001-07:00

On the needles:

Two shawls.

Two baby blankets.

One full sized blanket.

Two pairs of socks.

One sweater.

One project of indeterminate size and scope.

I need to have one of the baby blankets finished by May 7th, for a baby shower. Otherwise, nothing is urgent or pressing.

2011-03-30T10:55:00.000-07:00

We leave for London on Monday.

I've read mixed reviews on getting knitting on international flights. It shouldn't be a problem but some people report having their knitting rejected from their carry-on luggage. There are a number of suggestions - like removing your adjustable needles from your work so that you don't have to discard the whole project (or figure out what to do with it) if they ask you to throw away your needles. Or only bringing wooden needles, etc.

I'm still on the fence about what projects to bring. A pair of socks (or two) is a non-brainer but what else? A lace shawl? A sweater? A mindless baby blanket?

In other news, finished Haruni being blocked:

Awww shucks!

2011-02-25T11:21:00.000-08:00

Danica blogged about the blanket & kimono that I made for her.

That makes me happy!!

knitting on the go

2011-02-16T15:38:00.000-08:00

Chris and I are traveling to the UK for 10 days in April. It won't surprise anyone to know that I'm anxious about how many/which knitting projects to bring with me. There is a drive to/from Houston, the flights (9-10 hours each), time in the airport, etc. etc. etc. Is it better to travel with something that requires attention (a lace shawl?) or something simple that will take a while to complete (a sweater?) or a couple of really boring and portable projects (socks?). All of the above?

Either way I want to finish my Haruni shawl before I leave (so I can gift it to my sister in the UK) and start another one (for myself). I splurged on some Sanguine Gryphon Bugga (colorway: Longhorned Beetle) which is 70% superwash merino, 20% cashmere, 10% nylon. My first cashmere! Yummy! I would also like to finish the Saroyan scarf I'm making so I can gift it to one of my other sisters. Turns out I'm not a fan of the yarn (Shibui Knits Merino Kid) it is really itchy. Is it lame to gift it because I think it is too itchy?

I plan to knit with the London knitters while I'm there, maybe go see some derby. There will be yarn shopping, that is for sure!

I am super excited!

barnyard stench, stars and leaves

2011-02-03T12:17:00.000-08:00

I'm wearing my new Rose Red hat today. It got damp from my wet hair and now I'm trailing the stench of wet wool/barnyard. I actually like the smell of wet wool but this has a stronger than usual barnyard odor which is a bit disturbing. I actually dated a guy who got this same exact barnyarn smell about him when he hadn't showered in a while. Gross. I wish I hadn't thought of that...

I've been attracted to star shapes in knitting for a while. I started a 14-pointed Spiderman Blanket (which I'm pretty sure I'm going to frog) and then got interested in a 5 pointed Starghan pattern. I did a couple of swatches. 5 pointed stars out of Noro Kureyon (various colorways), size 8 needles - alternating skeins on each row for stripes.

Then I had a bit of a vision about this project after looking through all my sock yarn. I found that I had 5+ skeins of one colorway of Kureyon Sock yarn. Came home from work at the beginning of January and cast on for a seven pointed star in Kureyon Sock - 188. Size 4 needles - no stripes - just knitting straight from the skein.

My ultimate vision is a large lap blanket - or maybe something bigger. I think I'm just going to knit round and round on it for a year or so and see what happens. I'm about 1/2 way through the first skein now and I'm liking it so far. This is my favorite colorway of Kureyon/Kureyon Sock (188).

I'm discovered that I'm a total sucker for any knitting with leaf shapes. I'm also working on Saroyan scarf. I bought one skein of Shibui Merino Kid (Wasabi) with a Christmas gift certificate from my dad. Webs accidentally sent me a second shipment and instead of just sending it back, I went ahead and paid for it. And thus I had enough yarn for something substantial. I used 1/2 of the first skein for the increases and will use the other 1/2 for the decreases, and one skein for the center.

2011-01-09T17:54:00.001-08:00

I had a bit of a knitting break through. I've been struggling to knit the lace edging on my ULMUS shawl (that I started in June 2009). I just couldn't wrap my head around it and I kept messing it up over and over. I decided that I wanted to take one more shot at it - and try and get it done by the time Chris and I go to the symphony in Dallas in February. And an amazing thing happened - I looked at it - and it just made sense. It didn't seem hard at all, and it is hard for me to understand what I found so hard about it to begin with. I'm on track to have it finished shortly....

2011-01-06T14:23:00.000-08:00

I think it might be time. Time for what you ask? Time for me to knit something really insane. More insane than a blanket made of sock yarn? Why yes! I'm thinking of knitting some sort of crazy fair isle/stranded cardigan/pullover.

Maybe something like this:

I love this idea.

so many to choose from!

2011-01-02T15:53:00.000-08:00

We started out with all the sock yarn. All of it.

Laurel with the discard pile at her feet.

Narrowing it down...

The finalists.

The winner! Miss Babs Yummy sock yarn - colorway Iris. And the best part? I had picked that yarn out as the one that Laurel would pick and it was awesome to watch her whittle it down to the one that I had predicted.

Winding two balls - one for each sock.

A nice afternoon activity! And I got to fondle all of my sock yarn. Maybe my new year's resolution should be to not buy any sock yarn this year. I bought some on 12/31, but none in the last few days... Hrmmmmmm, food for thought.

2011-01-01T13:10:00.000-08:00

I have a new roommate and she is the sweetest loveliest gal in the whole world. AND she knits! For 2011 she has decided to knit her first pair of socks and she asked for my advice on getting started. Well, I took that a little far, as I tend to do. First I bought her some purple Malabrigo sock yarn - but when I asked her what color her first socks would be, she said green. Whoops! So instead of the purple Malabrigo I've decided to just give her pick of any of the sock yarn in my stash. And well... that is saying a lot. To say that I've got a lot of sock yarn would be an understatement. About 2/3 of my stash is sock yarn. The plan is to dig it all out and let her pick. Maybe I'll take a photo of it all when it is all laid out. Or maybe I won't.

2010-12-23T14:54:00.000-08:00

This year I vowed not to do any Christmas knitting, but what did I do? A lot of holiday knitting. A couple of hats, a couple of cowls, a scarf, a pair of fingerless gloves, and if I'm lucky I'll finish the socks that I started for CWS back in February before Saturday. Yikes. I turned the heels back in April and then totally abandoned them. Boring stockinette socks are... well... boring.

Leaving Christmas behind means I can cast on for a new project for myself, or maybe finish up some of my lingering projects. I have two sweaters that just need sleeves - one from January 2009 and the other from February 2009. There are TWO full sized blankets on my needles, two baby blankets, two shawls and at least one other pair of socks. Maybe I'll spend next week cleaning up my WIPs and then cast on for something fun and new in January. Maybe a pullover!??!

beads and nupps.

2010-12-03T12:05:00.000-08:00

I fell hard off my yarn diet in the past few weeks. I had been doing great all year and mostly only knitting from my stash (except for the sock yarn mill end binges) but I got sucked into two great sales this week - two yarn stores going out of business with stock at 40% and 50% off. I can't resist yarn if it is 30+% off. I'm a yarn whore. I've got about $175 worth of sale yarn on it's way to me now... shhhhh, don't tell anyone. It'll be our little secret.

In knitting news, I'm doing the Advent Calendar Scarf which, even though we are only on day 3 (and I'm still on day 1) includes a bunch of stuff that I don't know how to do - like adding beads to my knitting and something confounding called NUPPS. But I am using stsh yarn AND stash beads! Go me!

I hope to catch up through day 3 tonight after work.

Last night was the annual Arts & Drafts holiday party and it was awesome. I put 4 gifts into the swap - two hand knit hats, a sock yarn book with some Shibui sock yarn (Yarn on Stage colorway) and some stainless DPNs, and a bag of 10 skeins of Araucania Atacama (100% alpaca). I ended up getting the BEST gift in the swap - although I had to use some strong arm tactics to make sure I ended up going home with it.

Shant's giant round scrap blanket which was inspired by my own huge scrap blanket. I am so happy!

Laurel Violet under the blanket and Olive wondering what the hell is going on!

Long time, no post

2010-10-07T15:07:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since I last posted anything here at Apology Pie. But the sock yarn blanket madness continues - in fact, I've finished the mini zig zag blanket pictured in the last entry, plus a Rippled Baby Blanket and then a random vertical striped blanket, PLUS work on the huge zig zag blanket continues....

I just got back from Fall Yarn School in Harveyville where I spun some lovely yarn. Although to be totally honest - it was a colorway dyed by Adrian from Hello Yarn, and I made such a mess of the plying that the nice lady who was sitting next to me at Yarn School did the plying for me... but still, I did the spinning so....

Harveyville is my happy place and being there for the weekend was magical. I drove around with Ron, went thrift shopping, got a massage, took some naps, ate and ate and ate, and just really tried to relax and put work out of my mind. I was actually rather homesick and missed my house and man and dogs. In fact... I would like to take this opportunity to introduce you to the newest member of our household. Olive Pit Kieserman Smith:

She is the sweetest little gal and has fit easily into our little household.

The definition of insanity.

2010-07-02T07:40:00.000-07:00

I've been collecting luxury sock yarn mill ends for my enormous sock yarn blanket - Koigu, Colinette Jitterbug, Cherry Tree Hill, Pagewood Farms. Some of the mill ends are not big enough for complete pattern repeats on the big blanket. Also, some of the odds & ends donations I've received from friends are gorgeous but are just a few yards of lovely yarn.

And these smaller bits of beautiful yarn have been taunting me.

My solution?

Start another sock yarn blanket!!!

This time I cast on for the "pram baby blanket" size - 127 stitches (versus the 361 stitches on the big blanket).

The big blanket is about 5 feet wide and will end up being 7 feet long. The smaller version will end up being 54cm x 66cm (whatever the hell that is in inches??)...

So far it is a quick and satisfying knit, and with another pound of Pagewood Farm mill ends on their way to me (along with some additional odds & ends donations) who knows if this one will be my last, or just my first.

2010-06-10T21:29:00.000-07:00

I'm on the 19th color of my crazy sock yarn blanket. It was hibernating for a while but I'm so glad to be working on it again. It is relaxing (although purling back across 361 stitches is tiresome). I don't think I'll be done for many years, but that makes me feel comfortable and excited.

Unfortunately my iPhone wasn't able to properly capture the richness of the colors.

Also, I finished my black & yellow Skew socks. I LOVE THEM! They are a little tricky to get over my heels but the fit like dream once they are on. I'll be casting on for another pair shortly.

Ms. Lola Meat Pants

2010-06-01T09:29:00.000-07:00

We said farewell to Ms. Lola Meat Pants on Saturday morning. Her condition had deteriorated to the point where we had no viable options for continuing her life.

The house is impossibly empty without her in it.

My sweetest love Lola, thank you for being my best friends for all these long years.

2010-05-24T09:33:00.000-07:00

Sanda from SandraSingh.com had an open showroom day/sale yesterday at her lovely house out in the hill country. I came home with 4 skeins of Malabrigo Silky Merino in colorway Archangel. I almost bought an entire bag of 10 skeins but luckily talked myself down to just 4. Now to decide what to make with it...

Left sock and Lola.

2010-05-20T15:09:00.000-07:00

My sweet lovely dog Lola is dying of cancer. We've been cooking her yummy meals (mostly chicken and rice) and spoiling her rotten. She's been hanging in there this week - after a bad week last week - and I'm glad to spend time with her. This week we've been taking it easy and I've been finishing up my second pair of Skew socks. I love them. I'll probably make a 3rd pair as soon as these are done.

Yarn School - as always - was amazing.

2010-04-30T12:07:00.001-07:00

I left Austin on Wednesday morning and made my way to OKC. I spent the night with Justine & Larry - and their beautiful family - and then headed to Topeka bright and early on Thursday morning. I made it to my 1:00 PM appointment with Ron with mere moments to spare and we spent the afternoon putting the color into my yarn geisha tattoo.

An interesting side note on my afternoon of getting tattooed - I hated it. Every moment was agony. I'm not sure if it was because I spent the whole day driving (and the day before) and this was my driving leg, or maybe it was hormonal - but I hated every second of it. And it went on and on and on... Hopefully Ron will forgive me, as I'm sure I wasn't a star customer.

After the tattoo, I drove out to Harveyville and settled in for a long weekend of dying, spinning, eating, napping, chatting and laughing. I met some amazing new people and reconnected with some of my old favorites. The food was amazing, as always - and I brought home a few extra pounds as a souvenir.

My room in the high school is called the "Time Out Room" and it is a strange little room that is built directly on the balcony of the gymnasium. If I had to guess, I would say that it was originally used for storage or maybe as a projection booth. Really I have no idea. It was nice to have my own room but it was pretty loud up there - both with the late night spinners and the early risers. But overall it didn't really effect my sleep very much (or my multitude of naps).

The view out of the window in my room:

The same view once a day's worth of dyed fiber was hung out to dry:

The view down to the spinning circle in the gymnasium from the balcony outside of my room:

Down in the gymnasium looking up:

Dying fiber in the Dye Lab.

My finished fiber.

Most of what I spun all weekend was crap, but it was very enjoyable none the less.

Handspun. Spun from Hello Yarn fiber, colorway "Bubbles".

Some handspun yarn from some of my dyed fiber:

Nikol's little ranch is wonderful. The barn and chicken coop were made using the old school playground equipment. Here are some photos of the ranch and it's inhabitants:

I skipped the trip to the alpaca ranch on Friday and spent most of the day looking through antique stores in the towns surrounding Harveyville. Everything was SO CHEAP! I spent about $50 and bought some amazing stuff. Mostly dishes. I've been on a vintage dishes kick and have replaced all my 'new' dishes with mismatching chipped antique china. It makes me happy.

I drove home on Monday - did the whole trip in one day (with two stops for short naps) and was happy to have a day at home before I had to go back to work.

While driving to and from Yarn School I listened to the entire unabridged audio book of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Highly recommended.

vintage buttons

2010-04-18T08:16:00.000-07:00

Vintage buttons. Two mounted horizontally and one vertically.

Yarn School! FTW!

2010-04-16T15:39:00.000-07:00

So I finished my February Lady Sweater. I love it. This photo is from before I blocked it. I'm wearing it again today - post-blocking - and it is even better. A little longer in length on the body & arms, and the lace is more open and airy. Love love love. It just needs some buttons - I picked out some nice ones from my vintage button collection and I'll sew them on this weekend. Hell yeah.

I finished my first pair of Skew socks and immediately cast on for another pair. For some reason the unique construction on these socks make them feel like they FLY off the needles.

First pair - Claudia Hand Painted Yarns Fingering in colorway "Walk in the Woods"

Second pair - Schachenmayr nomotta Regia Nation Color, black and yellow.

I started another cardigan last night at Arts & Drafts. I'm making a Rayne Cardigan from a bag of Kureyon (colorway 195) that I picked up for a steal at Little Knits. I wanted something really mindless to knit while I'm at Yarn School.

I leave for Yarn School on Wednesday. I'm driving to OKC and then going to see Ron on Thursday to get some more work done on my yarn geisha tattoo. And then Thursday night I'll be in Harveyville just in time for the other attendees to arrive! I'm a bit nervous about making the drive alone but I think I'll be OK. I've got some books on tape and podcasts, so I should be able to keep myself entertained. Too bad I can't drive and knit at the same time.

The not so successful plaster of paris/dog print experiment/tutorial

2010-03-13T09:48:00.000-08:00

As my dogs near the end of their lives I keep coming back to the idea of casting their paws. Today I gave it a try - and while it was fun, it wasn't 100% successful.

Start with:
plaster of paris
disposable pie tins
a bowl
a measuring cup
a spoon
dogs
some towels (unfortunately this was an afterthought)
optional: bead letters

Mix the plaster with cold water - follow the directions on the plaster container. For this brand it was 2 parts plaster to one part water.

Mix until smooth.

Pour into disposable tins and tap gently to pop any remaining air bubbles and even the plaster out in the tin.

_________________
Attempt #1:

I let the plaster sit for 10 minutes. It got too hard and I was unable to easily jam Jezebel's paw into it.

FAIL!

_________________
Attempt #2:

After spending a while wiping plaster dog prints off the floor of the entire house, I went and got some spare towels. On my second batch - I poured a little extra plaster into a tin and pushed my finger into it every few minutes. I waited until the plaster was firm enough to hold an imprint but not too watery (and hopefully caught it before it got too hard).

Before trying to again, I put some towels on the floor.

While not perfect, the result was a lot better.

I did Lola's paw too but I ambushed her while she was eating a bone on the couch (and didn't get a photo of it). Her's came out pretty well too.

I ended by thoroughly cleaning the dog paws with a towel and warm water. Didn't want them to ingest the plaster and this helps to keep it from getting all over the house.

Lola's is out drying on the back porch and I'll update this post once I see the final result. I'm going to keep experimenting.... so stay tuned.... I think my next attempt will be with clay instead of plaster.

Glass Club FTW!

2010-03-09T15:09:00.000-08:00

My beautiful pal Shanti Deva runs a class called Glass Club. She opens up her home and glass studio and allows you (for a fee, of course) to come in and learn about fused glass. It is incredibly fun and I love learning new crafts.

My first attempt was an exercise in texture. My plan was to do all clear glass but I ended up including a lot of iridescent pieces. A pre-fired photo is below. The end result (not pictured) is a cool bowl with lots of interesting reflections and some texture.

My plan for my second visit was to do another monochrome piece (all red or all blue) but after watching Serena building Mount Fuji on her glass plate, I got all inspired and ended up with a sacred heart.

I love Glass Club.

In sweater news, my February Lady Sweater is chugging along nicely. I just finished the 9th lace repeat. I'm trying to do one lace repeat (4 rows) per day. I just started into my 3rd skein of yarn and should have enough to dedicate 1/2 a skein to each sleeve.

skewed!

2010-03-02T15:40:00.000-08:00

I was unable to restrain myself from casting on for Knitty's SKEW socks. The are a fascinating knit and I haven't even made it to the magical origami heel yet!! I can see myself making these again in the very near future.

In February Lady Sweater news, I have finished the garter stitch yoke, separated the sleeves and have started on the lace body. Unfortunately I don't have a more up to date photo than the one below which was taken mid-yoke. So far it is a pleasing knit.

Outside of knitting, life is lovely for most part. Skating, hooping, working. My home is harmonious, except for a sickly dog (which is to be expected at 11+ years old).

2010-02-18T14:52:00.000-08:00

Arts and Drafts is tonight. And we are halfway though the month... so I'm going to need to come up with a good sweater strategy before this evening.

My options:

• Continue knitting the Vine Yoke Cardigan, despite my reservations and lack of enthusiasm
• Frog the Vine Yoke Cardigan and use the yarn for something else
• Spend some time finishing the Pinwheel cardigan, Garter Yoke cardigan and OWLS cardigan before starting another sweater
• Cast on for another sweater in my queue (February Lady Sweater, Climbing Vines Pullover, Juliet, Tea Leaves, Mondo Cable Cardi, etc.)
• Discard the idea of knitting anything but socks this month
• Cast on for another big project (not a sweater or socks) such as a shawl (Andrea's Shawl, Icarus, Peacock Feathers, etc.) or a pair of fingerless gloves for myself.

I'm leaning toward abandoning the Vine Yoke Cardigan and casting on the February Lady Sweater (it is February after all!) in Malabrigo Worsted - colorway Lettuce. I have a whole lot of this yarn in my stash from the Marlabrigo project club that I belonged to last year.... It is a crazy color, and totally not in my usual palette, but what the hell...

2010-02-15T13:36:00.001-08:00

I've given up on both the February Sweater KAL and the Knitting Olympics. I'm neck deep in reorganizing (and purging) my storage room - and with the end in sight - I'm just not motivated to commit myself to a massive knitting challenge. I feel like an asshole because I organized the February Sweater KAL but I just don't have it in me right now. The storage room reorganization has been totally cathartic. I'm just not feeling sentimental about a lot of stuff anymore. Stuff that I've been holding on to for some reason all these years - old zines, derby detritus, triathlon race numbers, mismatching socks, old makeup, cassette & VHS tapes - it is all going in the trash. I'm keeping most of my books, photos, derby programs (that I designed), tools, a couple of love letters... Some of the trash isn't due to sentimentality, but more due to poor housekeeping/filing skills. Tax returns from the 1990s, ancient bank statements, prehistoric paycheck stubs, etc. Soon I'll have a clean and organized storage room, I'm SO looking forward to it. A storage room that I don't have to think of as my dirty little secret! Hell yeah!

Crap. And Junk.

2010-02-12T16:12:00.000-08:00

It is the eve of the Winter Olympics - and thus the start of the Ravelympics and/or the Yarn Harlot's Knitting Olympics. And I'm still totally on the fence about it. And I'm still on the fence about my knit-along cardigan too. It is stalled at row 15.

During the Summer Olympics a few years ago I tried to knit the Peacock Feathers Shawl (for Laurel for her wedding). It was a horrible disaster.

Maybe I should try that fucking thing again. The 2 years of knitting experience that has occurred between now and then is pretty significant. Hrmmmm....

So, yeah, that show Hoarders. HOLY SHIT! But let me tell you how awesome it has been for me! I have been able to get rid of so much stuff after watching a couple episodes of that crazy show. Last night I took 2 huge trash bags of junk out of the storage room. In fact, a clean and organized storage room is within my reach. I'm hoping to have it semi-organized by the end of the weekend - so that my roommate can more comfortably traverse it to get to and from his room to the rest of the house. I wouldn't be surprised if another 2 garbage bags come out of it - plus a bag of clothes/shoes for donation and at least one box of books to sell. Hellz yes.

a lack of enthusiasm.

2010-02-11T09:53:00.000-08:00

I arranged a sweater knit-along with the gals at Arts & Drafts. A couple of us are knitting the Vine Yoke Cardigan and a bunch are knitting OWLS. I cast on for my VYC last week but I'm really not feeling it. All I want to knit these days are simple stockinette socks. Just knitting around and around and around. Additionally, the Olympics are coming up - which means the start of the Ravelympics and/or the Yarn Harlot's Knitting Olympics. The point of the Knitting Olympics is to challenge yourself to start/finish a challenging project in the 17 days of the Olympics. My original plan was to knit a coat, but again, I'm really not feeling it. Seriously, I'm not feeling it at all. I suppose I could do the Knitting of SLEEVES Olympics and put sleeves on the two cardigans that just need sleeves. That would - essentially - be knitting around and around and around in stockinette. (UPDATE: Holy crap. I didn't realize that the Olympics start TOMORROW!! Wow. I am totally out of it.)

I feel terrible about having arranged a knit-along and then feeling no enthusiasm to work on the project. Crap.

And the crafting marches on.

2010-02-10T13:36:00.000-08:00

At the end of January I was down to 5 unfinished items. After finishing the Akimbo, I also finished a couple pairs of socks. One for me and one for the mister.

Spring Forward in Dream in Color Smooshy - colorway: Happy Forest.

Simple Trekking Socks in Colinette Jitterbug - colorway: Velvet Damson.

Of course I immediately cast on for another pair for both of us.

Basic toe-up socks in stockinette. Prism Merino Mia - colorway: Night Music.

Basic cuff-down socks in stockinette. Artsygal Stripes - colorway: 90144.

It doesn't feel right if I'm not always knitting a pair of socks for me and one for my lucky mister.

Akimbo

2010-01-18T17:30:00.000-08:00

Akimbo came off the needles this evening. I ran out of the main color so I did the edge in the accent color. Very beautiful.

2010-01-05T12:48:00.001-08:00

Ravelry shows that I currently have only 8 active projects in progress.

Holy shit balls.

2 shawls. 2 pairs of socks. 3 cardigans. And the Sock Blanket With No End. I've got one sweater (a pullover) hibernating but all other projects have either been finished or frogged. Wow. What a crazy thought - less than 10 unfinished objects. Damn.

I'm pretty sure I can finish a bunch of those this month. This is actually rather exciting. I am - for the first time since I started knitting - not overwhelmed by the number of unfinished projects that are gathering dust in my project cabinet. The monkey on my back is significantly lighter - if even just for this brief moment.

a hint of a plan

2010-01-04T13:21:00.000-08:00

I finished the cursed Vine and Leaf Beret this weekend (Vogue Knitting, Fall 2009). I don't think I have ever frogged and reknit a project as many times as I frogged and reknit this silly lace beret. In fact, I was almost finished with it at one point, when I realized I had been doing the wrong type of decreases all along and ended up frogging the whole thing right at the finish line.

I'm very pleased with the end result and am, in fact, wearing it right now.

I might go back and block it, as lace is so much nicer after it has been blocked. But I'm also enjoying the instant gratification of a finished object.

My plan is to continue to finish projects through January and then embark on a giant project for the Knit Olympics. (The Knit Olympics is where you must cast on a project during the Opening Ceremonies of the Winter Olympics (2/12) and finish before the Olympic flame goes out (2/28) The goal is to challenge yourself. During the Summer Olympics I failed miserably at trying to knit the Peacock Feather shawl. Ugh. Just thinking about that project is making me twitchy.)

I think I'll try and knit a jacket. Specifically, I think I'll knit the jacket on the cover of the book Japanese Inspired Knits. I already bought the yarn for it a long time ago, so it's just a matter of casting on.

BUY! BUY! BUY!

2009-12-31T06:51:00.000-08:00

Since I went out a couple of weeks ago and bought myself a new car, I've got to tighten the purse strings a little to accommodate a car payment again. The most obvious place I could stand to cut back on my spending is my yarn buying.

One of my goals for 2010 is to knit from the stash as much as possible. My stash is already pretty full - I've got yarn for at least a dozen sweaters, and probably enough to make 3 dozen pairs of socks (if not more... probably WAY more). I've got an amazing assortment of worsted/sport/bulky weight yarns that should be able to fulfill any needs. I don't really need to buy yarn.

I also received some hefty gift certificates to Hill Country Weavers for Christmas - so that should hold me for a while too.

But in the meantime, my lizard brain is panicking and telling me that I need to stock up or I'll be yarnless in 2010. So I've been taking full advantage of end of year yarn sales in the last week and as the New Year's deadline approaches I'm having to remind myself constantly that a yarnless world isn't on my horizon.

Yarn hoarding is a insidious and tricky little addiction.

The ass end of Christmas...

2009-12-27T17:58:00.000-08:00

I'm happy to see the ass end of Christmas, and thus the ass end of all the Christmas knitting.

I've still got a dozen (or so) rows of a Noro scarf to finish (and then put the resulting scarf in the mail to CWS' brother) but other than that... it all got done on time.

Today I cast on for Stephen West's Akimbo for myself.

My crafting plan from now until the Knitting Olympics in February is to finish my WIPS (like I did in November) and keep the casting on of new projects to a bare minimum. Ravelry shows that I have 10 active WIPs (including today's Akimbo & the scarf that is almost done) and 2 that are hibernating). If I could get the active WIPS down to 5, that would be excellent.

For the knitting Olympics I'm thinking about making a coat. Either Indigo or Sylvi. Or maybe I'll arrange the A&D cardigan KAL for that time period.

Meanwhile, time to relax for a while and work on my pretty Akimbo.

Ready to go!

2009-12-16T21:41:00.000-08:00

The Arts & Drafts holiday party is tomorrow and I'm up late culling my stash and finishing my gifts. I added tags to my button jars (made from vintage buttons on cards - most of which still have .07 or .25 cent price tags still on them) and hot glued a big old single button to the lid. Photos below. I'm excited about how these turned out.

I also got my first set of blocking wires - which makes blocking SO much easier. Below are photos of my Seraphim shawl and the Sugar Maple wrap while blocking.

I'm gifting my Seraphim shawl to CWS' grandmother for Christmas.

I can always make myself another one... right?

Getting jars of buttons ready for gifting.

2009-12-06T18:01:00.000-08:00

December To-Do List

2009-12-01T14:48:00.000-08:00

Weave in ends on:

Sugar Maple for Norma
Daybreak for Heather
Foliage hat for Norma
Scrunchable scarf for CWS
Dean St. hat for CWS

Wash & block:

Sugar Maple for Norma
Daybreak for Heather

Needle inventory
Straighten/rearrange yarn stash

Create a new UBER-List (1010 things to do in 2010 and beyond)

Mail holiday cards
Sort vintage buttons
Pick date/plan Arts & Drafts holiday party
Send Arts & Drafts holiday party announcement to google group, facebook, myspace.
Cull stash for give-aways for party prizes

Finish sleeves on Pinwheel sweater
Start sleeves on Garter Yoke sweater
Lace edging on Ulmus shawl

Owl mittens for Aunt Helen
Noro hat for Uncle Eddie

Buy Akimbo pattern
Wind Akimbo yarn

Finish CWS' socks
Cast on another pair of socks for CWS

Crafty holiday gifts

2009-11-09T14:13:00.000-08:00

I am now the proud owner of 12+ pounds of assorted vintage buttons. (Thanks eBay!) I also purchased a dozen Mason jars. My plan is to give a jar full of buttons to each of my crafty girly pals as holiday gifts. The gift tags will be buttons that are still on their original cards and I'm thinking of maybe hot gluing one or more button to the lid of the jars.

I'll post more on this project as I go along...

November To-Do List

2009-10-29T14:57:00.000-07:00

• Order another skein of Apricot Malabrigo Chunky (Sugar Maple for Norma)
• Finish Sugar Maple shawl for Norma
• Finish Daybreak for Heather
• Finish Through the Loops Mystery socks (must be done be the end of November in order to be eligible for prizes)
• Finish sleeves on Pinwheel sweater
• Start sleeves on Garter Yoke sweater
~~• Purchase Ball/Mason jars for gifts for crafty A&D gals~~
• Lace edging on Ulmus shawl
• Make sure I have needles for Scrunchable Scarf, Dean Street Hat & Chunky Foliage hat (1 set of #10.5 DPNs, 16" #10.5, ~~16" #9. 16" #10, #10 DPNs. Scarf: #11 or #10.5)~~
• Cast on for Scrunchable Scarf & Dean Street Hat for CWS (Malabrigo Chunky - Paris Night)
• Cast on for Chunky Foliage hat (left over Malabrigo Chunky - Apricot)
• Knit eyeball scarf for Bohunk
• Pack up cocktail sets for Bohunk & Fierce Cupcake

NaKniSweMo

2009-10-28T15:22:00.000-07:00

October is the month where people write a 50,000-word novel as part of NaNoWriMo. In the knitting world - we have NaKniSweMo. In NaKniSweMo you knit a sweater in a month (50,000 stitches).

Instead of starting a new sweater for NaKniSweMo, I'm going to finish as many of my WIPs as possible. There will be no new items allowed (except for 2 hats and a scarf which are already on my Christmas list). In a perfect world I would finish my garter yoke sweater and my pinwheel sweater and at least one pair of socks.

For some reason I'm really excited about this.

When animals attack.... knitting.

2009-10-23T15:42:00.000-07:00

If I make the mistake of leaving one of my knitting projects within doggy reach - Lola will find it and tear it up. She mostly likes to chew on the knitting needles. (CWS dubbed it RESENTMENT but that might have been his own subconscious feelings about my knitting talking.)

This last time was a bit tragic because the project was already a total pain in the ass. I had frogged the entire thing 4 or so times before finally feeling like I was on the right track and then BOOM - Lola got a hold of it... I was able to salvage some of it and I'm back to the beginning again. I might put this one into hibernation until I can face knitting it again for the 5th or 6th time.

Another of Lola's handy-works:

In none knitting news, I got myself a tattoo of a pair of scissors, a mythical Hodag and a very serious looking beaver, and then I ran off to Belize for the weekend with 7 of my girly friends. We spent two glorious days on a sailboat - snorkeling, eating, laughing, swimming, and having a great time. I didn't want to come home.....

taking stock. Operation WIP.

2009-10-05T15:16:00.000-07:00

October is here!

This marks the beginning of the brief period in Texas where sweaters might have an opportunity to be worn (I've already worn my top-down Silk Garden raglan cardigan a couple of times). It would be a shame to go through this winter without getting some use out of the other 3 (or 4) sweaters that are in progress. One sweater just needs sleeves and another just needs the sleeves finished (I'm about 1/4 of the way through).

I currently have 12 projects in progress (well actually - 14 - because I have a scarf and a sweater that are officially 'hibernating') and I really like the idea of bring that down under 10, or even under 6...

I could vow not to start anything new until 2010 - or at least until November or December.

BUT.

I do want to make CWS a hat and scarf for Christmas, and one of my co-workers is having a baby soonish. PLUS I proposed a Knit-A-Long with the Arts & Drafts gals to all knit the Vine Yoke Cardigan. And I would love to knit a sleeve for my cute new Dell Mini 9. So I'm loath to outlaw ALL new projects.

I think I'll at LEAST vow not to start any more socks until the 3 in-progress pairs are done, or not to start any more sweaters until, at least, the sleeveless ones have sleeves, and no more shawls until I finish Daybreak and Ulmus (I'm really aching to start a Herbivore!).

That is doable. YEAH!

Socktober Mystery KAL

2009-10-01T10:16:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite designers is hosting a mystery sock knit-a-long during October (SOCKTOBER!).

The pattern is free. It will be offered in 5 parts: the cuff, the leg, the heel, the foot and the toe. She will post a new part on her site every Thursday during the month of October.

I cast on last night when the first clue was posted.

I'm using Have You Any Wool Simplicity Sock in colorway RAGE!

Clues.
Mystery sock pattern page on Ravelry.

My house is a home.

2009-09-28T08:45:00.000-07:00

The lovely and talented Gadora Wilder wrote a beautiful piece on my 1935 east Austin house. I couldn't be happier.

Link here.

traveling knitting.

2009-09-24T14:29:00.000-07:00

CWS and I are heading down to the Texas coast with a gaggle of rollergirls (and some of their mates) for a weekend on the beach. The forecast is rain & thunderstorms for our entire stay so I'm banking on a fair amount of knitting time (along with eating, reading, playing board games, cooking and napping).

I love the idea of knitting, drinking coffee and hanging around with some of my favorite people for the weekend. Life is good.

I'm hoping to finish my Daybreak shawl. I am getting close to being done (18 out of 20 black stripes finished) but the rows are getting longer and longer and thus taking more and more time...

A flash of my stash, etc.

2009-09-20T16:27:00.001-07:00

Here is the diamond plate truck storage box that serves as the coffee table. Inside is all the sweater quantities of yarn, as well as a small number of finished objects. Everything is in individual ziploc bags (often with the planned pattern printed out inside).

The dog is the lovely and soulful Ms. Lola Floor Pig Meat Pants.

The sock yarn blanket continues on, and I still love it.

...and off we go!

2009-09-14T08:45:00.000-07:00

The sock yarn blanket is off and running. So far there are 3 colors of Colinette Jitterbug, one color of Shibui and one of Tempted sock yarn.

I love it!

2009-09-10T11:41:00.000-07:00

I am considering something insane....

Making a blanket out of sock yarn.

I have all these amazing mill ends (I just bought some more from Pagewood Farms) and lots of leftovers from socks/shawls. So....

I've done a bunch of research and have decided that I don't like most of the projects that I've seen made out of multiple sock yarns (Ten Stitch Twist is lovely in Noro but not in multi-colored sock yarns. No to the Babette Blanket (I can't crochet). No to Barn Raising Quilt. No to the Sock Yarn Blanket.)

But I think I might say YES to this zig-zag pattern which seems to hold up even when the colors are totally diverse. Getting ready to consider casting on 361 stitches and just going to town.

Might take me a few years....

The companion photos to the one below...

2009-09-10T11:29:00.000-07:00

Handmade Nation!!

2009-09-07T11:06:00.000-07:00

A bunch of the Arts & Drafts gals went to the Austin premier of Handmade Nation yesterday at the Alamo. Most of us had VIP tickets which entitled us to a great goody bag full or crafty treats and VIP seating! Yeah.

We had such a good time.

We got to see some awesome knit graffiti by the Knitta Please gals.

Alicia & Serena, AKA some of my knittas!!

There was a craft fair beforehand where I resisted spending a zillion dollars. (I did buy a baby gift for one of my employees who is expecting, but other than that I managed to be happy with the contents of my goody bag.)

The movie was great - and very inspirational. Made me want to move to Providence IMMEDIATELY! Seems like a lot of cool stuff is going on in Rhode Island, and of course - in the Pacific Northwest. The movie - overall - made me feel really happy to be part of such a diverse, talented and prolific community of crafty ladies (and gentlemen).

I'm working today, which is not so bad. Before work I got to have breakfast with CWS (before he went to sleep for the day) and take a second stab at an estate sale that I went to on Saturday. Everything was 2/3 off today and I scored one of the paintings that I have been coveting since Saturday. Apparently I missed the other Jesus painting by minutes today. Grrrrrr!!

This painting was painted in 1959 (according to the signature) and I think it might be Moses (based on the stone tablets, and the fact that the background could be a parted Red Sea). But it could be Jesus too. Who knows.

more yarn and more new stuff

2009-08-31T10:45:00.000-07:00

I recieved my one pound bag of handpainted sock yarn from Cherry Tree Hill. So Yummy!!

After tearing the lace edging out of on my Ulmus for the 3rd time and getting all 399 stitches back on the needles - I decided to put it aside for a while (or at least until I'm not too stubborn/lazy to use a freaking life line) and immediately cast on for a Daybreak shawl (for Chris' sister Heather for Christmas). So far I love it!!! And it seems to be a really quick knit.

Jitterbug!!!

2009-08-22T12:23:00.001-07:00

In this post I talked about buying some "creative packs" (ie: mill ends) from Colinette.com. I had them sent to Colin in Sweden and he sent them to me. The package arrived yesterday and was full of awesome treats! Thank you Colin!!!

I got a total of 21 colorways in various mini skein sizes. I’m so excited.

I’m on the fence about what to use them for.

I suppose I should also consider the fact that I just bought a one pound (!!) bag of "endlots" (ie: mill ends) of handpainted sock yarn from Cherry Tree Hill. So I'm about to have another zillion yards of random sock yarn ends. Yummy.

CWS just helped me pick out the colors (Jitterbug: Vatican Pie and black) for his sister's Christmas gift. His sister is a former employee of mine and I'm crazy about her so it feels right to knit for her. I'm going to make her a Daybreak Shawl. I'm ready to cast on NOW but I think I'll force myself to finish the Ulmus first.

Sock/Romantic/Ulmus progress.

2009-08-21T08:59:00.001-07:00

Sock progress is cooking along. CWS and I are back on so his socks came screaming out of hibernation and are back on the top of the pile. Should be ready to turn the heels shortly.

Started the lace edging on my Ulmus. Totally messed it up (misread the chart and did the wrong kind of slipped stitches on the WS) and ended up having to frog back and then make sure that all 399 freaking stitches were back on the needles. Ugh. It took hours...

Finishing things rocks!

2009-08-17T13:12:00.000-07:00

I've finished a couple of projects recently.

This is a minor miracle.

I finished my fifth pinwheel blanket - despite swearing after the first one that I would never ever make one again (and I doubt this is my last). This was was for Lisa & Alex's new baby girl Enna Rae.

And I finished a pair of socks that I started back in 2007. Yeah, no shit, 2007.

This was the last pair of socks that I knit separately before switching to two at a time. Last ever case of Second Sock Syndrome! I think they are ugly as sin but I like how the yarn pooled like crazy on one sock and striped up on the other. Very cool.

2009-08-10T12:58:00.000-07:00

I'm six loooooooong rows away from putting edging onto my Ulmus and I will admit that I'm very tired of this project - although I'm looking forward to knitting the pretty lace leafy edging. The last rows of shawls are always painful. (Additionally I wonder why I bother knitting all these lace shawls - since I don't wear shawls.)

I got a lot done over the weekend while watching some movies, sitting in a coffeeshop with my pal Joe (and his adorable dog Duke) and finishing up season 6 of Oz. (I'm going to miss those Oz characters. I had gotten rather attatched to them over the 56 hours I spent with them. Next on my list? True Blood or Breaking Bad or Battlestar Galactica. I've also got to watch season 1 of Sons of Anarchy again before season 2 starts in September.)

Ulmus rising

2009-08-04T11:08:00.000-07:00

Plugging along on my Ulmus shawl. I've decided to go a little bigger than the large size which means I need 399 stitches on the needles before I start the edging. I'm hoovering right around 340 at the moment so there is still a fair amount of knitting to do. As always I am loving the Colinette Jitterbug.

Speaking of Colinette Jitterbug, the Colinette website in Wales doesn't ship to the US but they sell something I really wanted. Jitterbug - is my favorite yarn ever - and the website sells "creative packs" which are basically mills ends. For £9.74 you get 250g of Jitterbug yarn in multiple shades and hank sizes (a normal skein of Jitterbug is 100g and and also sells for £9.74). I ordered 3 creative packs (equalled about $58.00 with shipping) and had it sent to Colin in Sweden. Whoop! He is going to forward it along to me along with some goodies from Sweden.

What am I going to do with 750g of assorted Jitterbug sock yarn? Excellent question. I'm thinking about a crazy throw for the couch (log cabin? pinwheel? modular knitting?) or maybe a crazy multicolored shawl or a crazy lady cardigan?

Adventures in giant letter Rs, knitting & accidental drunkenness

2009-08-03T10:18:00.000-07:00

I got drunk accidentally in the middle of the afternoon yesterday. Coffee turned into beer after 1:00 PM and I'm such a lightweight that I was all buzzed after two drinks. While winding my way home I ran into these giant letters in the dumpster by a construction site. I got permission - after speaking to some security guards and the manager named Bobby at a pawn show (they own the property), followed by hilariousness with wheelbarrows, hurricane fencing and ultimately the realization that my giant letter R would not fit into my car. I called Nathan for a rescue, no answer, so I called Joey. He arrived in record time, rescued my letter R in his truck and we ended up spending some quality time shooting the shit over Topo Chico's on the couch.

I am now the proud owner of a giant letter R. I think I'll put Christmas lights on it.

I finished my pinwheel blanket over the weekend (photos soon) while watching movies with CWS. Just need to weave in the ends, give it a good wash/light blocking and send it on it's way to NYC. The baby is due any day now so the timing is good.

Things with CWS are on hold for the moment, which leaves me with an unfinished pair of socks. I could finish them and gift them to him. I could frog them. Or I could finish them and decide later where they will ultimately end up. Right now I think I'll just focus on some other UFOs and come back to them in a few weeks when I'm feeling less raw, sad, discouraged and lonely.

I heart rearranging yarn!

2009-07-27T12:22:00.000-07:00

After coming to terms with the fact that three giant drawers of sock yarn were not going to fit into the new dental cabinet, I mulled it over for a few days, and then came up with a new plan.

The jelly cabinet in the living room is now the new home for all fiber, yarn remnants/scraps and the yarn needed to finish any works in progress (plus the doomed sweater that I started for Nathan but never finished due to the SWEATER CURSE that I blame for our breakup). The top drawers of the dentist cabinet became the new home for needles. One drawer for bamboo. One for metal. The old needle home - the bottom drawer of the antique sewing cabinet - now houses my small stash of lace weight yarn. In the bottom few drawers of the dental cabinet - I carefully arranged all of my unfinished projects. The big bottom drawer for sweaters (4 of them. OUCH) and the drawers above that for smaller things - socks, scarves, hats, etc. Most of the sock yarn went back into the three original drawers but I made one special drawer for self-striping/self-patterning sock yarns, and one drawer for my name-brand lovelies (Colinette Jitterbug, Koigu, Shibui, Malabrigo, blah blah).

All in all - I feel successful in my rearranging and using the dentist cabinet for things that suit it's limited drawer space/size. Plus I got to fondle all my yarn which always makes me extra happy.

I've been meaning to do a big WIPs post to expose my shamefully large pile of unfinished project to the world. Maybe I'll do that tonight...

grumble. complain. whine.

2009-07-21T21:11:00.000-07:00

Am facing the fact that the drawers on my new dental cabinet are actually quite shallow and small. It looks like my original plan - to move 3 huge drawers of sock yarn into the dental cabinet - just isn't going to work. No way. Am sorting through my stash in my head - thinking of another solution. Maybe use some of the smaller drawers for needles/notions and some of the bigger drawers for works in progress & their associated yarn. Really not sure but my brain is working working working, like a game of yarn tetris.

Mmmm... drawers!!

2009-07-20T08:34:00.000-07:00

Ok, I admit it... I was totally out of space for yarn/fiber storage. I filled up the 3 large drawers and 2 side storage areas in the china cabinet, and the truck box "coffee table" is stuffed to the brim.

I was faced with a pile of new sock yarn that had no home. Uh oh!

I don't have a lot of room - especially in the dining/craft room that already has the built-in china cabinet, a huge armoir, a bookcase and the dinette/chairs. So a buffet, sideboard or even a cool old vanity just wasn't going to work. I got it into my head that I wanted a vintage/antique piece that had a zillion drawers of various sizes. I did a bunch of research - looked at tall/thin highboys and lingerie chests - and finally decided that I wanted an antique dental/medical or spool cabinet. I was also inspired by the art deco dental cabinets that Nikol has in Harveyville, and wanted something that would fit in with my existing antiques and the age of the house (1935).

I looked and looked and looked. Old oak dental/medical cabinets are incredibly beautiful but also incredibly expensive. I was able to locate a bunch of very cool art deco dental cabinets on eBay but there were all in CA and had no delivery options so I started stalking local antique stores. At one store the proprietor suggested that I go to the City-Wide Garage sale that weekend so I wandered over after a brunch date on Sunday morning.

One vendor had both an old oak dental cabinet that was $2500+:
and, luckily, an art deco cabinet that was exactly what I wanted:

It was a few hundred dollars more than I wanted to spend but I knew I would regret it greatly if I didn't buy it, so I haggeled a slightly lower price (still way more than I wanted to spend) and took it home with me.

I found the worklist inside which marks it's age at 1942 and also found this trapped along the back wall. Very cool.

I'll post photos of it in it's new home later today. I think it'll be full of sock yarn by the end of the week. Mmmmm... sock yarn!

Sock progress

2009-07-02T12:39:00.000-07:00

I'm knitting two new pairs of socks. One for me, one for CWS. They are nestled together in their little project bag.

The green pair are for me. They are Spring Forward socks in Dream in Color Smooshy (colorway: Happy Forest). And the blue pair are for CWS. They are based on the Simple Trekking Socks by MimiKnits and are being knit in Colinette Jitterbug in Velvet Damson. (MimiKnits is also responsible for both the Icarus & Seraphim shawls.)

Summer is the perfect sock knitting time. Socks are portable and small, and they don't lay across you lap like a hot dog. I love knitting socks.

CWS socks!

2009-06-29T08:35:00.000-07:00

The CWS socks are done, washed, blocked and gifted.

The picture sucks, many apologies - trust me, they are lovely. The Ravenscroft colorway (one of the Blue Moon Fiber Arts Raven Clan colors) is beautiful - black with undercurrents of dark green and bright green rivers running through.

CWS just happens to be a man who loves socks. A man who can think of no better gift than a new pair of socks. Be still, my sock knitting heart.

His second pair of socks are already on the needles. A simple pair of ribbed socks, toe-up - made from Colinette Jitterbug in Velvet Damson, a deep royal blue.

Shoe crisis.

2009-06-24T08:21:00.000-07:00

When it gets really hot, if you leave a pair of Crocs in your car - they will shrink.

How do I know this? I would say - as a conservative estimate - that, over the years, this is the fourth pair of Crocs that I've left in the car and shrunk. The shoe on the left was under some stuff, the shoe on the right was on top...

And for the first time in years, these are the ONLY shoes in my car. (My car normally has 2-5 pairs of shoes in it...) So I'm stuck with one regular shoe and one TINY shoe.

Ironically, I'm closing on my refinance today. I might need to leave a few minutes early so that I can stop somewhere and buy some shoes.

The tooth. re: my blessed life

2009-06-19T11:33:00.000-07:00

Joey made me a tooth. From stainless steel. Carved out of the handle of a butter knife.

Incredibly beautiful.

More photos - including documentation of the tooth in progress - can be found here.

shoes, rebounds, reknitting

2009-06-16T16:11:00.000-07:00

My fancy Betsey Johnson shoes (and my pasty calf pre-new tattoo) and a glimpse of the Joey socks (at the wedding we went to together a couple of weekends back):

____
The subject of my ill-advised office romance/rebound (of many many months ago) moved back into his old cube - which happens to be right by mine. I extended an olive branch - in the form of an ecard that said "I SHAT WHERE I EAT" but - as usual, there was no response. Oh well, we'll just go on with our previous plan of pretending the other doesn't exist, and the occasional muttered hello when necessary.

____
CWS and I had a great time on our trip to Kansas, despite that I had to come to terms with the fact that the socks I am making for him were at least an inch too big. So I had to rip back to before the heels were turned. Many many many hours/days of work lost. I managed to turn the heels again (one took me upwards of SEVEN HOURS during our drive home...) and am working my way back up the legs, again.

Home from Kansas.

2009-06-15T09:43:00.000-07:00

CWS and I got home from Kansas last night around 12:30 AM. In total we drove 1473 miles between Thursday morning and Sunday night. WOW.

More about the trip later, now I've got to get cleaned up and head out for jury duty.

Here is a first peek at my knitting tattoo. The yarn ball geisha.

Harveyville!

2009-06-08T15:21:00.001-07:00

Joey was my date at a wedding yesterday. He was wearing the Joey Socks. That made me happy.

CWS and I are driving up to Harveyville, KS on Thursday. A long ass roadtrip is a good way to test out the lasting power of a relationship. If we don't hate each other by the end of the trip - that will be a good sign.

We are leaving on Thursday morning and will need to be back by Monday afternoon because we both have jury duty (strange huh?). Saturday I'm getting tattooed by Cap'n Ron Miller at Electric tattoo in Topeka. I'll be getting my knitting tattoo and I'm excited about it. I'm keeping my tattoo idea under wraps for now - especially since it hasn't been designed yet but it will not be your basic yarn/needles knitting tattoo. And should also include bunny slippers, if I have my way.

Yeah for Harveyville! Yeah for knitting tattoos! Yeah for CWS!

Ulmus

2009-06-07T11:32:00.000-07:00

Cast on for my Ulmus shawl, changed my mind, ripped it out, tried two other colors, changed my mind again & ripped that out too, went back to the original color combination, and here it is.

Colinette Jitterbug in Velvet Bilberry and Dusk (my all time favorite colorway. A close tie with Noro Kureyon & Kureyon Sock in colorway 188).

cutest baby ever!

2009-06-02T12:39:00.001-07:00

I delivered my Tulips sweater to baby Lucy on Sunday. She is the most precious baby EVER!

The CWS Socks are cranking along. I'm working up the leg, will work in pattern for a while and then switch to ribbing for the last inch or two. Here is a quick status picture (you can ignore the fact that they are mighty big on me...)

My knitting goals for June are to finish the CWS Socks, the purple/green/brown socks for me and the pinwheel blanket for Alex & Lisa's new baby. But now I've become obsessed with the Ulmus shawl and I'm dying to cast on.

I'm thinking of going with Colinette Jitterbug in Dusk & Velvet Bilberry. But I might need to do some additional stash diving before I settle on two colors.

ZOMG! So cute!

2009-05-28T11:01:00.000-07:00

I finished weaving in the ends on my Tulips for Lucy sweater last night. It might really be the cutest thing I have ever made. Plus it was incredibly enjoyable to knit. I loved every moment of it! Really! I did. I learned new skills and LOVE the way it turned out. So cute. ZOMG!

Slutty sock knitting. Socks for CWS.

2009-05-27T12:53:00.000-07:00

Once the Joey Socks (also knows as the Sexual Frustration Socks or the SOCKS OF RAGE) were off the needles, and off to live with Joey. I cast on for a pair of socks for CWS, my gentleman suitor of the last month or so. (Although to be transparent, which is the point of totally public blogs right - UGH - I still have some pretty strong and conflicted feelings about Joey which were lessened by the completion of his socks, but certainly have not disappeared entirely.)

CWS is particular about his sock colors - and asked for only socks that are predominantly black - although upon further probing I have discovered that he is open to all manner of crazy color combos, as long as black is involved.

These are my first toe-up socks. After mastering the cast-on - the next big hurdle was the heel. I decided to go with a short row heel and followed this tutorial by CosmicPluto. It involved double wraps which were not nearly as complicated as I originally imagined.

I successfully turned one heel last night. And I am happy about it.

These second socks - the CWS Socks - are a lot less emotionally fraught than the Joey Socks. I've been trying to knit them from a place of peace and hope, instead of from a place of needing to knit them to manage my frustration and anxiety.

So yeah, I guess I'm a slutty sock knitter. I talked about it in group therapy last week and my therapist was very concerned that I should also be making socks for myself. I assured her that, yes, I do knit myself socks. In fact I'm almost done with a pair now. They are wildly ugly and I started them back in 2007, but damn it, I AM knitting socks for myself too!

The Joey Socks on the Joey.

2009-05-25T13:50:00.001-07:00

New skills. New Socks.

2009-05-20T17:06:00.000-07:00

Joey's socks are finished and gifted (which was accompanied by an unexpected release from emotional turmoil. Hurray for knitting!!!) So I'm free to start on some new socks. (Am I a slutty sock knitter?)

I've always been terrified of toe-up cast-ons but after the yarn fiasco with Joey's socks, it felt like the right time. Nikol suggested the toe-up cast-on from a free Knit Picks pattern. The cast-on was simple and intuitive, and I was knitting in no time! Learning new skills is the greatest!

I'm using Socks That Rock lightweight in one of the Raven Clan colors: Ravenscroft. This is my first time knitting with any Socks That Rock yarn and I'm enjoying it so far.

more yarn school photos.

2009-05-14T11:08:00.000-07:00

My demented yarn school "mug shot":

Me, in unflattering lab coat, in the dye lab:

2009-05-12T11:06:00.000-07:00

I've been trying to put together a long post about Yarn School. But it keeps dying on the vine, so I think I'll post a bunch of photos instead....

Joey and I went to the zoo in San Antonio a couple weeks back. Here I am pretending to scratch a Jaguar. The kitty was so darn cute and made me really happy happy happy!:

Now on to Yarn School:

My first batch of hand-spun:

My second batch of hand-spun. I am SO in love with this yarn. It was all made from scraps that I found around in the gym:

Nikol has sheep and chickens on her land, but on Saturday we had lunch with some angora rabbits and angora goats:

Nikol's sheep have lambs. Here she she is with little Jayne Cobb:

And my favorite, little Hokey Pokey:

2009-05-11T18:37:00.000-07:00

Rerouted through Denver after I wasn't allowed to gate check my new spinning wheel and had arrived too late to check baggage. I'll arrive home a few hours late but no harm, no foul.

Yarn School was great. A lot more info (and photos) are forthcoming. But for the time being, I am happy to report that Joey's socks are done. They just need a good soak and they can go off to live with Joey.

Not bad, but not perfect.

2009-05-05T17:18:00.000-07:00

The replacement yarn arrived to finish Joey's socks. It isn't perfect. But it isn't terrible either. I think it'll be just fine. I'm a little bit annoyed and a little discouraged, but mostly I just want to push through and get them finished.

I guess I'll do some stripes until the other yarn is used up and then finish with the new yarn.

Yarn School!!

2009-05-05T09:43:00.000-07:00

I'm off to Harveyville, Kansas tomorrow for Spring Yarn School. I'm totally excited. I'm arriving a day early and leaving a day late so I'll have a bunch of time to relax and knit and hang out with Nikol. My original plan was to get a knitting tattoo by Ron while I was in Kansas so I planned a longer trip - but Ron is in Europe on tour with Kid Congo Powers, so no tattoo for me this time around. Joey and I have been talking about taking a road trip to Harveyville in the near future and new tattoos might be a good reason to get it actually planned.

As with any trip, but especially on this one when when I'll have a fair amount of down time, I'm concerned about which knitting projects to pack. Unfortunately, a lot of my current projects are huge - mostly sweaters that just need sleeves. If the yarn for Joey's socks shows up today I'll work on those. That would rock. If not, I'm not sure what to pack at this point. (ETA: Got home and found that the yarn for Joey's socks had arrived! YEAH! Kick ass!!)

I want to cast on for a pinwheel blanket for Alex & Lisa's new baby. I've been eying a skein of Miss Bab's Worsted "Yowza" (in colorway Iris) from my stash. The pinwheel cast on/start is so fiddly that is might be a good plane ride task.

ETA: replaced photo of yarn colorway with photo of work in progress. Cast on while at Yarn School.

The last time I went to Yarn School. I lost my mind. Literally. It was the beginning of a decline into insanity, recovery, new medications, a couple new therapists (individual and couples), and eventually - all that led to me being single now. In retrospect it is pretty clear that I was profoundly depressed, lonely and unhappy when I left for Yarn School and the combination of the other-worldliness of Harveyville plus a guy who had some massive triggers for me (tattooed neck, ex-addict/recovery, CHEF, dog, literate, blah blah fucking blah) led me down the big bad obsession rabbit hole.

This time - I'm living a whole new life, and it feels strange, but good. If you had asked me before that first Yarn School what 2009 would look like - I pretty much thought I would be knocked up by now - or married - or at least still with my ex. I would never have guessed single, dating, having a roommate, looking for a new partner in crime. Funny how things change. I doubt that I'll be any better at spinning this time around but I'm open to learning!

big crafting news!

2009-05-01T10:48:00.000-07:00

The big crafting news is that Shanti finished her amazing crochet 7" record blanket last night. It is a 1:1 scale so it ended up as 7 feet across! This thing took her forever and it is an amazing accomplishment. Even more exciting is that she told me that I'm next on her list. I'm getting a granny square blanket! I am so blessed!!

The weekly Arts & Drafts meeting continues (after more than 2 years) to be a highlight of my week. I hear that from a lot of other people too. I would never have been able to make it through the last 6+ months without the companionship and support of my Thursday knitters (and crocheters and needlepointers et al).

Last night Joey & I had a knitting lesson. He is a natural (which doesn't surprise me since he is so talented in other areas that require hand/eye coordination. And that isn't a dirty joke. Joey is an incredibly talented artist. More info here.)

Trey Jones took some lovely photos last night. The full set is here.

Joey, Mimi, Alicia and Lisa all engrossed in their work:

And a couple of me:

Yeah for OCD!

2009-04-26T00:39:00.000-07:00

I pulled all my yarn out of the drawers/cabinet and threw it all into a huge pile on the dining room floor. The coffee table - a stainless steel diamond plate truck box - is full of sweater quantities. The rest - I left heaped on the floor. How to arrange it? Weight? Color? Auto-biographically? Chronologically? By maker? By fiber content? I think I'll go with weight, but swap out where traditionally I've stored worsted (and above) weight and my stash of WIPs and their associated yarn.

I also need to go through and do a thorough inventory of my needles and notions. Things are seriously out of hand.

Sunday looks like a yarn arranging day! That makes me happy actually.

Stash flash.

2009-04-25T11:40:00.000-07:00

I went to the big Hill Country Weavers inventory reduction sale yesterday out in the suburbs (luckily it was right by my office so was able to go at "lunch time"). Last time they had a big sale at the owner's house, I didn't buy anything as it was mostly novelty yarn and/or too expensive. Yesterday, I had better luck.

3 skeins of Colinette Iona. Colorway: Velvet Leaf. Wool/mohair/silk. So beautiful.

2 skeins of Colinette Giotoo. Colorway: Jay. I don't know what the hell I'm going to do with this yarn. I have NO yarn like this in my stash at all. Ribbon yarn? Hell no. But I couldn't resist. It is so beautiful.

2 skeins of Claudia Hand Painted Fingering. Colorway: Woodland Moss

sock yarn solution

2009-04-23T14:43:00.000-07:00

I'm committed to finishing these damn socks for Joey.

I've looked all over for more of the yarn (Spirit Trail, Alexandra, in colorway Thunder Mountain) and have been totally unsuccessful. I asked the dyer, the shop that I bought it from, and any other shops that have carried that yarn, have posted on the Spirit Trail forum on Ravelry and checked out a million Ravelry stashes.

Nothing.

So I'm doing the next best thing which is using a yarn that is slightly similar (in the same color family) to finish them.

Here is a relatively accurate - color wise - photo of the socks:

I bought a skein of Shubui Sock yarn is colorway Tweed:

I think I'll do a couple of stripes between colors and then do the end of the feet/toes in the Tweed.

Stay tuned.

Joey said today that his preferred color palette is various shades of asphalt and homeless. So I think I'm on the right track.

Ironically, Tweed is the same yarn that used to make the Transition Gloves for Ellen:

WIPs. a sampling.

2009-04-20T13:52:00.000-07:00

Socks for Joey.

These socks have been a freaking emotional roller coaster. There have been massive tangles in both balls of yarn and it looks pretty certain that there is absolutely no way I'll have enough yarn to actually finish them. This is all pretty ironic considering the emotional ups and down, and unfinished business that lingers around my feelings for Joey.

Not sure what is going to happen to these socks. Currently I am hiding from them.

Owls sweater.

Ravelry link.

I'm making this as a cardigan. I'm going to put red glowing eyes onto one of the owls on the cowl.

Pinwheel sweater.

Ravelry link.

This has been a chore. First, I think it is ass ugly. But I really want to finish it. I actually bound off the body on Thursday at Arts & Drafts and discovered it wouldn't fit over my ample breasts. So I had to fucking pick out the bind off edge and get all those 100s of stitches back on the needles.

This sweater is an asshole.

Adapt and Survive.

2009-04-20T10:53:00.000-07:00

I've been deeply conflicted about my apocalypse survival skills.

My apocalypse plan has been to get the pets/supplies/valuables into a vehicle and make my way north to Nikol & Ron's in Kansas. I shared this with them and they immediately had some questions about what skills I would bring to the table and I realized that in the event of the end of the world, the fact that I've known them for a zillion years doesn't necessarily guarantee entrance. Being funny, charming or old friends won't be enough.

What skills do I have? Not many. Other than turning string into clothes - which Nikol can also do, as can most of my other friends. I can't fix cars or generators. I can't shoot a gun. I can't hunt or skin an animal. I can't tie knots or make fire.

I'm also slightly lazy and I get overwhelmed easily.

In 2008, I had this great idea where I would spend all of 2009 learning the skills that I needed in order to be better prepared for the coming apocalypse/zombie apocalypse/failure of technology. The plan was to document it all - with blog entries and videos - on a URL that Nathan bought for me apocalypseresume.com. Maybe write a book about my experience.

A short list of goals:

Small engine repair
Close in hand to hand combat
Basic first aid
Hunting/Fishing
Weapons
Basic farming/gardening
Midwifery
Basic animal husbandry
Make fire
Navigate with a map and compass
Basic sewing/mending

Instead I was waylaid by the breakup before Christmas and I never got back on track. In fact, everything has felt totally off track since the end of 2008. My survival skills are totally unchanged. I still can't deliver a baby calf or plant a garden. I can't defend myself - beyond my poor roller derby blocking skills - and I still haven't touched a gun, ever....

Time is running short.

KLRU Downtown!!! Now online!!

2009-04-17T10:53:00.000-07:00

The piece that KLRU Downtown did on Arts & Drafts is now available online.

LINK HERE.

Craft blog?

2009-04-17T10:12:00.001-07:00

Ok. so this is supposed to be my public craft blog in connection with Vickie Howell's Craft Corps project.

My profile page is here.

My Flickr page is here. Lots of knitting photos there.

My Ravelry name is: KnittyBang.

Here is a nice article from yesterday's Daily Texan about Arts & Drafts. (The author obviously didn't know the difference between knitting and weaving, and the only reason we had so many snacks/food was because it was our 2 year anniversary party... but it is still a nice article.)

Ok. Crafting huh?

I don't seem to have very good judgement re: public vs. private. I've already had to remove a couple of posts that were about dating with herpes and dating in general and getting my heart broken. And the very first post totally includes ANAL. (Hi Dad!!)

As fiercecupcake said I'm like one of those glass frogs with the see-through skin.

And there hasn't been ANY posts about crafting at all.....

Can't win for losing.

2009-04-12T15:55:00.000-07:00

Response from OKCupid.com:

howdy--
Thanks for the note--it's flattering and you are to be commended for your efforts in putting yourself out there. You are correct, the shirt is from that box set from the early 90s. I'm sure we could blather on about music for an extended period of time, especially if I told you the story of seeing Shellac for the first time in a Montana roadhouse where the bikers jumped one of the mountain climbing rocker dudes and smashed his face all up, but the non-surmountable reality here is that I am close friends with yr ex-husband and his family.
Best of luck to you in this universe.
peace

My response:

Thanks for the response. I have only love and respect for Sean and his family, and I appreciate your time.

My entry to the class notes for my high school

2009-04-01T13:34:00.000-07:00

I have reentered the world of dating - at 38 - which isn't a pretty sight. My little sister has implored me to stop screaming "GIVE ME A BABY!" or "PUT A BABY IN ME!" as that doesn't seem to be a good start to a first date. Internet dating is a wild ride - I've had a tattooed man tell me that I'm too heavily tattooed - and am thus, no longer attractive/acceptable/soft/sensual. I had one guy take off all his clothes while I was visiting the bathroom. I came out to find him sitting naked on my couch. WOW! I've run into all manner of crazy people with crazy ideas about how the world should be. It is scary and exhilarating and terrible - and I don't recommend it AT ALL. I'm still working for XXX, and loving it. I have a new roommate who is an ex-con and have discovered that a lot of housework/cooking/yard work can be accomplished when one is under house arrest. It's like having a really great husband without any of the emotional responsibility. Amy R. and I are back in touch via FaceBook (Yeah! I missed Amy so much!) and have discovered that both of our dogs are trained to eat off forks.

Things to keep & things to leave behind

2009-03-31T16:15:00.000-07:00

Things to Keep & Things to Leave Behind

(an ever evolving list)

Keep

Apology pie

Foul weather booty calls

Road trips

Bathing together

Dancing

Anal

Leave

Separate bedrooms

Cats vs. dogs