Back in Action--Well, sorta

I'm back--well, sort of. After a long absence from the knitting world due to crazy law school finals, I'm getting back to the knitting. This until early this week when my hard drive up and died on me. In one fell swoop I lost all of last semester. Yeah, I should of backed up my HD sometime in the last 5 months but I didn't and I'm paying for it. So good bye pictures, music, all my notes from class. This crash did send me to the new Apple store on Boylston in Boston and it's pretty snazzy. The genius bar got my MacBook back to me the same day which was great, but I am mourning all the docs that I lost.

Anyway, so back to the knitting. I'm currently working on Twinkle's Best Friend Cardigan but am having to do pattern adjustments due to the use of size 17 instead of 19 needles. I'm testing out the Sweater Conversion chart. I think I ought to swatch again to make sure that my gauge is correct.

I'm also still working on the Hanami shawl. This has been napping on the needles since I need to sit down and concentrate on it.

My Swan Lake Cardi needs to be ripped back a row or two so that I can figure out what I did wrong regarding some of the special stitches. For some reason when I executed the Lifted increases I got holes in my knitting.

The only knitting that I have been able to make progress on was my Loopy Rug. It's slow going though since the loops are about three stitches each and I'm using No. 10.5 needles.

In other knitting news, NB and I are heading out to MA Sheep and Wool Festival next weekend with eyes peeled for Ugly Finished Objects. We are also making a stop at WEBS to pay homage to the LYS Supreme. I need to do some planning for yarn to pick out for projects. This time though no 1 or 2 skeins. I have more yarn to knit scarves with than any other type of yarn.

Sustainable agriculture as profitable

Here's a link to a New York Times article about learning to shear sheep at Montana State University (it only takes three days to learn).

"This is a fortunate year to become an American shearer. In a strange local backwash of global capitalism and the weak United States dollar, the Australian and New Zealand shearing companies on which Western ranchers have come to depend are staying home this spring, unable to justify the exchange-rate loss."

Now I have to convince my father to start a sheep farm.

Come with me, and you'll be in a world of pure imagination

I have no self-control.

First, I found a pattern for the Wenlan Chia's best friend cardigan that I've wanted to knit for awhile online instead of in the book I hadn't brought myself to buying yet.



Second, I found suitable yarn on sale on WEBS.

Third, WEBS also had niddy noddies.

Guess what I did? I bought more yarn.

Perhaps my lack of self-control is due to the massive amount of yarn in my room. Perhaps it is influencing me to buy more of it.

Which is strange because, I really don't have any more room for yarn in my room. Plus, I'm starting to have nightmares that my bedroom is much like Willie Wonka's Chocolate Room only for moths. There is wool under my chair in forms of skeins and balls, there is wool on top of my chair in the form of an afgan, there is wool on my desk chair where I pile my sweaters, there is more wool in my dresser where my sweater should belong. I'm almost convinced that I'll be awakened in the middle of my sleep my a high-pitched whine that will sound like the tune of Wonka's Pure Imagination song.

New Projects, San Francisco Visit

I got back from spring break over one week ago and still haven't posted or mentioned it. I think being plunged back into winter in Boston after the springy weather of San Francisco shocked me too much.

Time with Aidan was sprinkled with plenty of knitting. I knit most of the rest of lelah and was able to finish the edging and straps within a day or two of returning. The stockinette stitch over the bust nearly crippled me via carpel tunnel problems. It is done; it is finishes; I'm wearing it now. Actually, I'm still wearing the outfit in the photos. I wanted to not have the dorky long-sleeved t-shirt on underneath, but it warmed up to 34 degrees (Fahrenheit, mind you) today.





(Don't ask me why this photo is sideways. Blogger isn't letting me rotate it and it's not sideways anywhere else.)

In mods, on the lelah top, I finished the edging around the top in four rows of double moss stitch and continued the double moss stitch up the straps. I think I will sew bra straps to the underside of the straps so that they won't stretch so much. I didn't really figure for as much stretch in them as they are proving to have so I may have to go in and shorten them.





I took a few pictures of Aidan spinning some yarn. I'm so glad that I can share my deep desire for a niddy noddy with someone and not have them think I'm strange. Also, it was refreshing that I had someone to sit in bed with, watch Murder She Wrote and knit without feeling too ashamed of myself. I did have a few flashes of "Grey Gardens," but told myself that I only needed to worry if either Aidan or I started wearing a turban.

In other news, I seriously need to go on a yarn diet. I can no longer close the lid to my yarn tub defeating the purpose of the plastic yarn tub with a lid--to keep out pandas who want to munch on my bamboo wool. Also, I purchased some yarn at Atelier Yarns in San Fran. The first one is a gorgeous 50% silk/ 50% wool blend and the second is a orangey cotton/soy blend.





I'm thinking of knitting sizzle with the cotton soy. I have no idea what I want to knit with the silk/wool blend. I love seeing the variegated yarns, but I've concluded that I rarely like how they knit up. I think something simple like garter stitch or moss stitch would be appropriate. I'm inspired by BrooklynTweed's posting about handspun and scarves. He knits beautiful items so I won't feel so icky imitating him. Perhaps the so-called scarf pattern would work well (funny thing is that while in San Fran-my first day actually-Aidan and I went to imagiknit and saw the scarf that is in the photo that I linked to).

As for that yarn diet, I'm going to start doing some stash knitting, i.e. finding patterns to go with my yarn instead of the other way around.

Right now, the WIPs are the Hanami I started right before spring break and which only progressed a few rows until I had to frog a few rows. I need quite, calm time to concentrate on it until I know the pattern well; and right now, if I can't knit it in front of the tv, it's not getting knit. Secondly, I just cast on the Swan Lake Cardi and the pattern isn't too hard at all so I expect to make the most progress on that one.

Now that Summer's Just Around the Corner...

I'm gonna knit me some dishcloth-cotton hot pants!The pattern on the Peaches & Creme website says it only takes 2.5 balls of yarn.

Actually, this is my FAVORITE brand of cotton yarn. The colors are nicer and it's softer than Sugar N Cream. I've only found it at Wal-Mart though, and there aren't any Wal-Marts in San Francisco.... The Mason-Dixon special pack available on the website of 12 skeins for $15.99 is pretty tempting.

LYS Conflict

So, on Thursdays I have about 40 minutes to kill between my last class and when I need to leave to go to ballet at 6:20 pm. Unfortunately, my lys is open until 7 and practically next door to my law school so I usually end up wondering over there to look at yarn (I could do work, but really now). Today I went over there for the purpose to pick up the teeniest crochet hook ever so that I can do the beaded cast on for my Hanami wrap. I realized that I could MacGyver something but knowing me, it would be just one more thing to delay my cast on. That and crochet hooks are about a dollar. I found my hook size 0.90mm and realized that I had no cash on me and that there is a minimum purchase requirement for plastic.

I then remembered that I needed a new needle gauge. I found out last week that my old one was wrong. All my size 6 needles where fitting the size 5 whole. I was really offended that my needle gauge was erroneous. It's like buying a ruler where the fifth inch is shorter than the others. I know knitting isn't an exact science, but really now, this was just insulting (and confusing).

So with my tiny, tiny crochet hook in one hand and my new needle gauge in the other I still didn't have enough for the minimum so I bought some sock yarn. Trekking pro natura to be exact. It's purple and kinda shimmery because it is 25% bamboo. I've been wondering about bamboo as a fiber and have shied away from it so far. There is something about the texture that is off putting to me. Additionally, I don't know how to panda-proof my yarn tub. This yarn is soft and the other 75% is superwash wool.



The big issue is that I spend too much money at my lys and am conflicted because while my lys has decent prices for Boston I can usually find the yarn cheaper on line. I want to support my lys, but it's tough competition. For instance, the price of Sugar 'n Cream yarn was 2.50. At Hobby Lobby/Crafts Etc. it only costs 1.69. I know that the lys has more overhead than an online store and must use the profits to pay rent, salaries, stolen inventory.

Bubble Bursted and Mellow Harshed

So, after my project finishing orgy, I was really excited to start new projects! Projects that I had been itching to make.

The first is the Hanami wrap. I went to PayPal to transfer the measly 6 bucks and was waiting for the transfer to go through. I got impatient and decided to go ahead and purchase the pattern so the file could be sent to me as soon as the funds went through. That's when I found out I could just purchase with my debit card through PayPal without all the waiting. Yippee! I got the 12(!) page pattern and rushed to the law school's computer lab to print it out.



I already had the yarn which I bought at Morehouse Farms on the Rhinebeck odyssey with NB. This yarn was the only yarn that I was shopping for at Rhinebeck and didn't even purchase it at the festival. It's the perfect cherry tree blossom color. The pattern calls for beaded cast on and am so glad I kept my mini-tackle box of beads from my junior high days. In my collection, I have a small number of beads that are clear with white centers that my aunt (the same one who gifted the doily to Aidan) gave me years ago. I think that they would like to be part of the Hanami.



Inside the tacklebox:



The second project that I'm excited to start is my Swan Lake Cardi from Interweave Knits, Spring 2007.



I purchased the yarn, Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece, months ago and then realized I didn't have a pattern. NB saved the day again by gifting me a copy of the magazine (is that included in GI?). Also, since I already swatched in the called-for needlesize and kept my swatches for this yarn for the Lelah top, I don't have to do a swatch for the cardi! I can hit the ground running.

Speaking of Lelah--I'm currently working on finishing the top. It was kinda a bummer that all the Raverly posts for the top said it was a quick weekend knit. Somehow I manage to make the easy impossible. I'm making it longer with a tighter gauge and am adding straps. I casted on in August, put it down in September and just now picked it up again. Maybe it'll be ready for August '08.

With all of these new projects, I need more project bags. A while ago I purchased a bunch of Sublime Stitching embroidery iron on transfers. The transfers are fabulous patterns like Sushi, Dia de Los Muertos, Monkey Love. I think they need to be on some new knitting bags. In a search for blank canvas bags, I went to the first store that I associate with cheap and crafty, Hobby Lobby. Did you know that Hobby Lobby is online? And through their partnersite, Crafts etc., you can order all the cheap Sugar n' Cream yarn you want? Whoboy! They have canvas bags for like 2 bucks. I'm going to be like Miss Trixie from Confederacy of Dunces only my bags biodegrade.

So I'm all excited about these things today and then right before my class on Civil Disobedience I learn that a rough draft of my paper is due March 12. In a week. I don't even have my research done. Crap! Yeah. That's a problem. I don't think much more knitting is going to happen until San Francisco.

100% Done

Almost forgot. Medusa and O Brother:

Bootylicious II--revised booty count

OK. After a little prying/research, I found out that J&S are having a boy. J&M are also having a boy (they just found out today!). I guess you could consider both little boys to be my nearly-nephews. Two other friends are having girls. Then there are the babies that are already born: a girl for D, and a boy for K&E.

So, my booty schedule is thus: finish the almost done booties (blue) for K&E. Knit the other green booty for D. Then, make two pairs pink and two pairs blue. Fortunately those babies aren't all due until Summer.

Argo-scarf, another Dishrag, Holy *#!@ I Can't Believe Some Lady Made This

Here's a very belated picture of my argosy/argonaut scarf that I made last winter. It was such a long time ago that I don't even remember what the real name is, but I do know that the pattern was on Knitty. You may notice some color differences between the two legs of the scarf. See, I used two skeins of Aruncana Alpaca that I bought at Uniquely Yours in Rolla. I probably should've done that "knit every other row with alternate balls of yarn" thing. Like that was gonna happen.

What can I say about the Ball Band Dishrag? I love knitting these guys. $3 for so much fun! If I named this one "tequila sunrise over the Pacific" I would make myself barf. But at least I'd have a nice reusable rag to clean up with.

And lastly, this is a very old cotton doily that my aunt sent me last year for my birthday. She said she paid $.10 for it at a church flea market. It's been sitting on my desk for the last 8 months, and I still can't get over it. Some person (some gal, probably, right?) made this thing. Out of thread. It's crazy.

Donezo!

Knitting Be Not Proud: After not being able to knit much the past week or two, I bit the bullet and finished two (2) projects today. I finished the i-cord edging on the Mary Jane house shoes and knitted the strap. Next time, I make a pair I'm definitely going to make sure that I bind off very loosely around the hole. It was a nightmare picking up stitches for the attached i-cord. The first shoe I did was a bit wonky. I kept shredding and piercing the stitches I had to slip over the picked up stitch on the i-cord.



All in all I like them, and since I'm no longer so puzzled about which end of the sole is the heel and which one is the toe, the next pair will be a snap.

In other finished news, I finally attached the handle to my Brea purse and wove in the ends. I still didn't crab stitch around the top and it does seem a bit saggy/floppy. I'm sure a lining would help to fix that but I'm not gonna hold my breath. It took me way too long to do the finishing on this as it is.



Oh, and I did finish my Fetching gauntlets. These too (like everything I knit) took too long for what they were. I ended up frogging the first one that was too loose and reknit it. So really, I make 1.5 pairs of these.



This isn't a finished picture but shows the first gauntlet on the left and it's floppiness. The finished pair are made out of alpaca and are nice and warm. I am contemplating putting a drawstring of ribbon around each wrist to keep them snug.

Bootylicious

Everyone seems to be spawning these days.

So far I would like to make a second green baby booty to match the one that I already have finished, as well as sew up the blue ones. Then, it would be nice if I could get around to making two more pink ones for friends who have not yet given birth. Plus, an extra set for J's baby, whatever gender it decides to be. I think that's five pairs total.

Upcoming Trip!

I am very excited about my spring break trip to San Francisco! Even though it's still 3 weeks away and during Holy Week (nothing says SPRING BREAK like the Passion of Christ), I have big plans of fun stuff to do.

So far my list of things to bring:

My set of KnitPicks Interchangeable Circular Needles
The Knitter's Book of Yarn by Clara Parkes

My New (almost finished) Mary Jane Slippers
Some airplane knitting which I haven't figured out yet.
Maybe a second pair of MJ Slippers, or a Hanami Shawl

The shawl might not be the best thing to start on a plane where mistakes would be disastrous. But I really want to knit it and am afraid if I don't start it over break I'll never have a chance to start it.

Any suggestions on additions to my list?

Socks for Marina

Here they are: Marina's belated Christmas socks, just in time for Spring. They are also my first stripes! However, I don't think I'll ever use Baby Ull for socks again. It's just not twisty enough. Or else, I'd use #2 needles instead of #3's. The non-stripey sock is already more felted than the stripey one 'cause I had to WEAR it while I was working on the second one.

Oh, Lavoiser, I Wish They Hadn't Guillotined You

As a side note: To attest to the greatness of Lavoiser, I would like to highlight additional evidence of the Law of Conservation of Matter.

Today in Boston, the windchill was negative 20 yet I saw way too many people walking around with a lack of warm knitted appreal. Today was not the day to wear the ballet flats without socks, or skits without leggings or legwarmers, or to go bareheaded.

The only rational explanation for this phenomenon is the Conservation of Matter: all those San Franciscans with the hat/glove/scarf sets have absorbed all the knitted matter leaving Bostonians without any.

Yeah, I know it's the easy way out--I call it a compromise

Last Friday I had this conversation with my hairdresser, Danielle, about the holidays and parents and not getting along with them and the ensuing, crushing guilt. We also discussed whether or not I'd ever go back to living in Missouri. I said that I didn't see myself living there because it's so conservative, and back water, but I also felt guilty that what Missouri needs are the idealistic young people and professionals to go back home and affect the communities.

So to allay my guilt, I found this yarn, Ozark Handspun.



It looks eclectic and squirrelly and like a lot of fun. I think I could embrace some of my Missouri-ness by combining it with a complimentary colored yarn that is more tame. I like the idea of these pillows. The important thing to keep in mind is to let the Ozark Handspun add interest but not take over the project like kudzu.

Apple Cozy and Friend

Emily made me this sweater for my produce:
The instructions are here.

Our Grandma made this for Emily:

I recently rediscovered her in my closet. I think I'll call her Heloise. Shy but sturdy.

New I Wanna Project

Elegant Gauntlets from The Purl Stitch by Sally Melville: I found them here, along with a Goreyesque/sweet story of sisterly love and a deceased kitty. This lady also has delicious sock yarn on etsy. (California poppy is my favorite, but maybe not for making gauntlets.)

These gauntlets could be the perfect article of clothing to San Francisco-ize any outfit. 'Cause, around here, it's perfectly normal to be wearing a tank top, but then cross the street and need a sweater. They're like instant sweater sleeves!

In other words, Emily, you might want to knit yourself up a pair in time for your annual visit.

Monster Mittens

Check out the posting on Subway Knitter about the Subway mittens being evil and a sign of the impending apocalypse. The discussion took place on a Ravelry forum. Honestly, I'm at a loss for words. I wish I could say it was a joke but the posters seem to be serious.

House Shoes

I think I found a use for all that cotton yarn.

The pattern can be found here.