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.

Lesson Learned

You really need to read a pattern BEFORE you go to the store to buy your supplies. This I learned today as I was swatching for my new knitted bag project. I didn't have the called for No.9 needles so I picked up some new bamboo ones at Windsor Button along with the called for yarn in a beautiful deep purple. I was watching tv and knitting my little swatch on my 9" No.9's. All was going well, I had doubled my yarn so that I was knitting two strands at a time. I finished, checked the gauge (which was ok, but that's another story), ripped out my swatch and looked at the pattern.

Ooops! Yeah, CO 126 of double stranded Ultra Alpaca. 126 stitches! I went ahead and started to cast on my stitches, squishing them tightly. I could only get on about 70 stitches. Looks like I'm heading back to my LYS.

So Sick I Couldn't Even Knit

Last weekend, I learned the hard way what happens when you burn the candle from both ends for too long. Last Sunday, I came down with the flu and am finally getting back up to speed with one week left until Spring Break and some major homework to catch up on. I'm still coughing a lot and my voice is on hiatus, but I don't feel like death. I had to stay home from school both Monday and Tuesday and was too out of it to even knit! I kept trying to read my Contracts homework but would fall asleep. Then I'd wake up and decide to knit and couldn't focus on the pattern. That and I thought the worst present to give someone is a new scarf infected with influenza.

I was also able to fine an extra skein of Saphire Green Malabrigo Yarn in the same dye lot as the first skein at Windsor Button where I bought the first one (image that!). Now I think that Mom's Christmas scarf will be a Saint Patrick's day scarf. I'm sure that it'll come in handy while watching the parades and such.

I'm staying in Boston during the break and anticipate doing some school work, outlining my courses and some supplementary reading. I mostly hope to go to some coffeeshops during the day and relax and knit. I find Boston to have the worst proportion of coffeeshops to people. Whenever I just want to get a coffee and read and relax for a while I have to hunt to find a coffeeshop with any room in it. Maybe during the day during break will increase my chances.

Gauntlet, stalled project

Here's a picture of my intended gift for my roommate, Liz, for Christmas. Unfortunately, I have only gotten one of the pair done. That and I kinda think it makes it look like I have a cast on. Hmmm...next time I might do it in white and stitch doodles on it as though it was a real cast.

The pattern that I used was this one that I found on Knitty.com. I added an extra cable twist on the cuff since I hate too short gloves. It's bad enough to get the cold air hitting your wrist, but snow is the worst. I am using a chunky alpaca yarn from Frog Tree. I like the alpaca except that it's really heavy. My first intentions were to knit a scarf (surprise!), but halfway through it, I realized that I'd need to have someone spot me while I lifted it onto my neck.

Also, the yarn isn't colorfast. This isn't too big of a deal except that my needles are now blue and for awhile I thought that I had a serious bruise on a couple of my fingers. :}.

Mom's Christmas Scarf-yeah, I know it's February

Here's my current project that has had some fits and starts to getting underway. I originally had planned on using a vibrant read llama yarn that I purchased in Rolla, MO at Uniquely Yours over break, but the short fibers started getting too fuzzy so I switched to one of my favorite yarns Malabrigo in Saphire Green. The yarn is wonderful. I knitted my first scarf ever out of Malabrigo in Parisian Midnight and fell in love with knitting.

I got the pattern from Ysolda. I love it. It makes me look like an expert knitter but the pattern is super-easy once you get a feel for it. The only problem is that I don't know if I'll be getting it done before St. Patricks.