Of All The Things That I Need Right Now...

THESE are not among them:

Yes. That little, shimmery, golden-winged creature is a clothes moth. They are actually kind-of pretty and a bit adorable with their tiny, fuzzy heads and shiny, black eyes --- very non-threatening to behold. Non-threatening, unless, of course, you are like me: a knitter. A knitter with a WALL of yarn in which 70% of it is made up of some animal-based fiber (wool, alpaca, cashmere, silk, etc.). It's like a never-ending buffet of tasty moth delights!

To say I have an infestation would be an extreme exaggeration. I have seen 3-4 of these flying around the house over the last couple of weeks. I finally got the emotional strength to look in the closets last night and I found 3 of them living on that pink, fuzzy, angora nightmare (a beautiful nightmare, to be sure) of a cowl neck I knit a couple years ago, which I lovingly refer to as Nummy Muffin Coocol Butter.

And there were two of them just chillin' together on that felt hat (see previous post). No holes or damage to either item, mercifully. But where there is smoke, there is usually fire and I'm not taking any chances.

So I did a preliminary cleaning of just the surfaces in that room with Trader Joe's Cedarwood & Sage cleaner. I love this stuff. I use it to clean all over the house. I left a sponge soaked with it on top the the wall-o-yarn too. This weekend, I am going to begin the process of pulling everything out of that wall shelving unit (whimper) and checking it out for damage. 

First glancing over everything last night and it all looks perfectly intact. I actually reorganized this monster a few months ago. And everything was cool then. But, as I learned from the great internet, moths like to be in the dark and their larvae are what eat the fiber. So it's possible that there has been some serious snackin' going on where I can't see. RAGE. Deep breaths...deep breaths....

Then I will have to thoroughly wipe down all the cubbie holes.  I'm debating buying some large-ish clear, plastic bags to put the yarn in before committing it back into the wall unit. I find it more difficult to figure out what I have when they're all crammed in bags. And aesthetically it looks like crap. So I don't know. I have a few space bags, but Titus likes to chew on them. (Oh, Titus, WHY?) and I never had that much success with space bags anyway.  They don't ever deflate as much as they show on TV.  Not even half as much.

I don't know about you, but the scent of moth balls makes me gag, or think of that one great-great aunt that you had who you met when you were like four and she had a weird parrot and wore her apron backwards and ate potatoes raw...and then gag. But, I absolutely love the smell of cedar. So I plan on using that as a defense. Some people say cedar is fool-proof (right up my alley!) for getting rid of moths and others say that the moths point and laugh and continue swaddling their babies in your merino. Since I find the scent pleasant, I did order some cedar balls and cedar oil from Amazon. Those should arrive early next week.

So wish me luck as I try to nip these little beasties in the bud. I'll try to keep you posted.

OMG, Y'All, the Mayans May Be Right

Because I finished the fucking pinwheel sweater! AW YEAH, BITCHES!

Nearly four and a half years after I started, it is, indeed, finally done.  I wandered around the house while wearing this for about 20 minutes contemplating the idea of not having this unfinished project looming in the back on my mind somewhere.  It was very bizarre.  I felt like Frodo after the ring was destroyed in Mount Doom.  To put it another way: I cast this on when George Bush was president, m-kay? 

I don't hate it, but I don't love it either.  I think the concept of knitting a giant circle with sleeves was intriguing to me at the time.  I was a much less-experienced knitter then, and this project had no shaping, no seaming and it was knit on large-ish needles (size 9).  Looking back, this really needs some shaping.  Unless you have a perfectly proportioned body---and I don't mean like a gorgeous, photogenic body (though that would help), I mean mathematically perfect---this thing will not fit correctly.  And I have neither of the aforementioned.

The yarn (Lion Brand Cotton-Ease) was great to work with.  It's very soft and the end result is a very comfy sweater.  BUT---there is always a but, isn't there?---it was not the best choice for this project.  Because of the cotton content, and the vast amount of yarn required to make this, AND because there are no seams to help with the structuring of the garment (see, knitting a garment without seaming is truly a double-edged sword) this sweater is very heavy and a little droopy.  I didn't block it because it doesn't need any help stretching out.  Just picking it up from the shoulders I can feel it pulling down and stretching the knitting.

Another problem I have is with the sleeves.  There doesn't seem to be a good, fool-proof method for making the sleeves for this sweater.  I haven't revisited the pattern instructions for this area in years, but whatever method you use for making the sleeves, they are still done in between YOs, which causes giant holes at the shoulders and back of the armpit areas of the sleeves.  I am actually wearing this sweater today.  It was cool enough this morning to warrant something, so I figured, why not?  It looks fine, but I am extremely peeved about the holes.  As the day is progressing, I am noticing that the stockinette around the holes is expanding, probably due to the natural pulling of the garment down from my shoulders (and as I mentioned above, the yarn is helping this right along).

 See?  RAGE.

At first I thought it was because the sleeves were too tight, but they are actually pretty loose up there.  I've got something like 3 inches of extra fabric around my arms.  So that's not it. I don't even know what to do about this.  Do I try to stitch it together somehow?  Mattress stitch, maybe?  Do I care?  Meh.  I'm totally open to your suggestions.

Why?

Why is this ugly-ass, shitty yarn $40 for only 35-40 yards?

I mean do people really want yarn with gaudy tchotchkes in it?  Come on.

Are You Prepared for Fall?

I am. I realized that I now have 4 knitted garments to wear in the fall and even winter.  I never got the opportunity to wear my Channel sweater, having finished it just as the weather started warming up in early May. I have the Owls sweater just waiting in the wings for a cool October day. Plus, I have last year's good ol' February Lady at the ready too.  And now I also have the B.O.B., which stands for "Button On Blanket."

I had gotten seven hanks of a very coarse and itchy rustic locally-produced, bulky-weight, 100% wool yarn when I was on vacation on Vermont this year.  I fell in love with the color: a lovely marl of the natural gray of the wool and red, resulting in an overall mauve-ish look with some red flecks.  Here's a close-up shot of the front cabling that shows the coloration really well:

My friend, Marsha, knit one of these about 3.5 years ago.  It's a great pattern for using up that not-so-soft, bulky-weight wool because it's meant to be worn as an over-sized, bundle-up cozy thing over clothes, rather than as a delicate, next-to-the-skin cardigan.  The pattern lives in our shared Dropbox of patterns, so I figured I'd give it a go.  The B.O.B. comes in three size instructions (33", 39", and 46").  None of those sizes really works for me.  Although, in retrospect, the 39" would have been fine.  So I decided to split the difference between the 39" and 46" and make a 42".  The end result is more like a little coat or jacket.  It's well over-sized (even for Busty McBooberson, like me), but I think that's a good thing. Someday, I will get pictures of myself wearing these things for reference. I swear.

I don't think I've ever knit a project that didn't pose SOME problem (except maybe for the February Lady) and for the BOB it was the yarn's overall texture.  This yarn is scratchy. It is itchy. It is coarse like sandpaper. What to do? I researched ways to soften up wool.  I don't know why this never occurred to me before, but my research turned up several recommendations to use generic shampoo and conditioner.  After all, wool IS a form of mammal hair, and that is what shampoos and conditioners are made to clean and manage!

So I spent a whopping $.89 each on freesia-scented VO5 shampoo and conditioner for normal hair.  I gave the B.O.B. a gentle bath in the shampoo after it was all done (sans buttons).  And boy howdy did it need it.  My fingers would get filthy after a few hours of knitting this.  I thought it might have been dye, but it was just dirt.  Maybe the yarn was on the shelf for a long time and it was dust?

Then I let it sit submerged in cool water with about 1/4 cup of the conditioner mixed in for a half hour.  I did a quick rinse, as best I could --- this thing was HEAVY, laden with water.  Then I had to hold it it my arms and let it drain off as much as possible.  No wringing or twisting, as this would felt if I breathed on it wrong. I got soaking wet in the process. Then I laid it on towels on the bathroom floor and pressed out as much water as I could.  Then I laid it on more towels on blocking mats on the dining-room table. It didn't need much shaping or stretching or pinning.  I only used about 6 pins to hold the button plackets into place.  That's it.  It took about 6 days to dry and then I sewed on the buttons.

It is MUCH softer.  I can still feel that it would be a little itchy if worn right against the skin, but practically all of the coarseness is gone.  So I am quite happy with the result.  My one complaint is the scent.  It smelled great when I was using it.  But it seems a little over-powering now.  I'm hoping that wearing it out in the open air a couple times will diminish the fragrance a little.  I would have gotten traditional-scented VO5 (you know, the golden stuff, which is a scent that is really nice, to me anyway) but the grocery store didn't have it! So, if you ever get some wool yarn or wool with mohair (a real "bastid" for itchiness), I recommend shampooing and conditioning! 

Hindsight is always 20/20, of course.  So what I SHOULD have done was shampoo and condition the yarn BEFORE I knit it.  It would have been infinitely easier to manage the open hanks of yarn.  But I didn't even think about it until I got 1/2 way through knitting the B.O.B. 

Now I'm knitting a pair of Tardis socks (yes, I'm a Doctor Who fan).  I'll blog about those after I am done.  And also I am trying my hand at real lace knitting with lace-weight yarn.  I've done plenty of lace patterns before on dishcloths, scarves, hats, baby items---even the February Lady is a lace pattern---but never with true lace-weight yarn. I'll blog about this experience soon too (preview of coming attractions: OY VEY).

Math + Knitting = Pain

I recently finished a lovely summer sweater with flutter sleeves, called Summer Romance.  I plan on wearing it this week once I get my hands on some clear deodorant!  Here's the finished product:

I am very happy with how this turned out.  The yarn I used is elann's Luna, a DK-weight rayon/cotton blend.  It has beautiful drape and sheen, making this a very luxurious garment.  I barely had to block it at all---only at the top, to keep the curls on the neck and flutter sleeves reasonable (cotton curls like WHOA).  I was nervous when knitting this because the yarn had little give, and it was a wildly different fiber and weight than what the pattern recommended (a sport-weight alpaca).  Also the silky rayon fibers in the yarn split like nobody's business. Casting this on (and I did a tubular cast-on because apparently I am a masochist) nearly killed me.  But...it looks beautiful and fits like a dream.  I must say that I have been very lucky with knitting garments to size, even for other people.  But I have a feeling that my luck is about to run out.

Enter the owls sweater. I've had this pattern in my knitting queue for about 3 years now.  It used to be a free pattern, but due to severe copyright infringements, the designer is no longer offering it free (and I don't blame her after the shit she's had to deal with).  So I cast this on last night.  I'm using this lovely yarn that I got for a steal from Fabric.com called SMC Select Silk Wool.  I got it on clearance for $2.78 a ball, when this yarn normally retailed for about $10 a ball (still does at Jimmy Beans, Yarn Market, and Webs).  Maybe I'm setting myself up for failure at the get-go because this is not the recommended yarn for the pattern, which is Rowan Cocoon, or Rowan Purelife British Chunky.  Once I see the name "Rowan" attached to anything, I know it's too expensive for me.  But my yarn is bulky, as the pattern uses.  I should be ok.  Right?  Yeah.  It's not bulky.  The label says bulky, but the yarn --- though posh and lovely --- is pretty much worsted.  This explains the great yardage in a 50 gm ball (131 yards).  So I have to hold it doubled to get the bizarre pattern gauge, which is 13 stitches and 20 rows to 4 inches.  Believe it or not, I managed to actually get that gauge (yes, I actually knit a gauge swatch)...using 7mm needles, which don't exist in any of the US-made or US-distributed kits I own.  Swell.  I had a set of 7mm straight needles lying around from an epically failed attempt at some British pattern from the Simply Knitting mag called Damson Wine.  But no circulars.  Thank you, Denise Needles, for offering 7mm tips!  For $6.00, I now have a full complement of circular options.  This pattern is supposedly very fitted with negative ease.  I don't usually do negative ease, but versions of this pattern that I've seen that have positive ease look frumpy and lumpy.  Ok, I cast on the 40" size.  Here's me last night:  "Gah! This is too huge! I'm going to go down to the 38" size."  Cast on 38" size. "WTF, this is going to be too small."  Knit ribbing. "No...it looks fine. Wait. Do I have enough yarn?"  Goes to read pattern: "700 yards."  "Ok, I have @780 (using 1570 doubled), so I should be good."  Ribbing done, onto body. "Oh man, I don't know if I have enough yarn...and it still looks too big."  Knit 4 rounds.  "Jeez, now it looks too small."  Yeah.  So this pattern is going to be the death of me.  And I think the problems are largely with the pattern.

Here are the problems with this pattern:

1) the free version I have is about 3-4 tweaks away from the newest, $6.50 version. So the gauge, yardage, shaping, etc. are all a little...well...off, I'm afraid. For example, my version says that the 38" size uses 800 yards. But the pattern notes on Ravelry now say 700.  Mmm-k, which is it?

2) it's knit bottom up instead of top down.  Normally this wouldn't be an issue (I knit that Summer Romance bottom up).  But it's basically a raglan construction and it's really hard to tell how well it will fit when you start knitting it at the waistband. So I have to wait until I get to the owls part to tell if this thing is going to fit or not.

3) over 5500 people have knit some version of this sweater and committed their results to Ravelry. This is a good thing.  I don't think any one of them had the same experience as the other.  This is a bad thing. 

4) the most troubling thing is that nobody seems to be getting the right gauge with the recommended yarn on the recommended needle size.  So it's impossible to tell how much yarn I might actually need.  Another similar frustration is that many people just gave up on knitting this to gauge and just opted to knit something 2-3 sizes bigger (in as varied combinations of yarn, yardage, and needles as could be humanly possible) in order to get a garment that fits them.  This is not an option for me, as a) I could run out of yarn and b) the largest size on my pattern is 42".  The newer, not-free version has 2 sizes above that.  Sigh.

5) the neckline looks really weird on many sweaters.  I don't have the mental strength to look at 5500 projects, but the several hundred that I have looked at seem to have varying degrees of success with the neck.  Sometimes it looks perfect.  More often, it looks WAY too wide, almost like an off-the-shoulder neckline.  I can't do the Flashdance look; I need to wear a bra. So I'm concerned about this.  And there doesn't seem to be any mods or help with adjusting this, unless I knit it from the neck down.

6) this sweater generally does not look great on people with big boobs.  A few have done it and it looks good.  But again, they all seem to have veered wildly from the actual pattern to get it to look that way.

So I have a feeling that I'm going to be "winging" a lot on this sweater.  I toyed (and am still toying) with the idea of re-starting it, but from the neck down. A few people on Ravelry have posted that they adjusted the pattern to knit it this way.  Because for me, the biggest issue is the bust.  If it's too tight across the bust, then it doesn't matter if it fits everywhere else.  Ill-fitting sweaters are a no-no for me.  And knitting it top down will also give me a better idea about the yarn and if I'll have enough of it.  UGH, but that means doing math. I really don't want to have to do math to knit a sweater.

Hmm... decisions, decisions....

The bottom line is that I want to be able to look at a pattern, cast-on, knit it, and get a result that will fit; is that so much to ask?

The Hell...?

I seriously don't know what the hell I'm doing or what's going on anymore about anything.  For one thing, I turned 40 last week.  Turning 40 was a lot like getting smashed in the face with a brick, while a camel kicks you in your naughty bits.  In the past, I couldn't give a rat's ass about my age.  Imagine my surprise when January 1, 2012 rolled around and I started to feel such an oppressive dread of May 9, that I fell into a deep depression (from which I am not much recovered).  I felt like I had a date with the gallows, and there was nothing in my power to stop my impending demise. 


Add to this the general malaise and stress of my job (which got increasingly worse between March and May, resulting in a rather unfavorable employee review earlier this month that, naturally, plunged me deeper into despair), plus my husband's now 17-month-and-counting bout with unemployment and--- well, it's a recipe for disaster. I can't even begin to count the tears shed on my daily train commute to and from work.  A couple times, my sadness and hysteria were so pathetic that I would be sobbing uncontrollably while walking from the train station to my office, literally stumbling along half blinded by tears, trying to hide my splotchy-faced bawling all the way.  Anyone who took notice of me must have thought I was crazy...and they'd probably be right.  I have not had a "weeping walk" to work in the last 2 months, so I guess that's an improvement.

Compounding my feelings of hopelessness and doom was the death of Davy Jones in February.  Seriously.  His death hit me like Mack truck.  In my childhood, teens, and even young adulthood, I think that the nostalgia for the late 1960s (particularly in the 80s and early 90s) was ever present in fashion, music, television and movies. Hence, the resurgences in the popularity of The Monkees throughout the decades.  They were very much a part of my life.  I owned all their music and a collection of their TV show on VHS, then later on DVD.  I realize that, technically, Davy Jones was not of my generation, but in a way, a little bit of me died with him.

Today I learned that Donna Summer died at age 63 from breast cancer.  I am devastated, once again.  It seems like as soon as I start to climb back up the ladder of normal human existence, something always clobbers me over the head and sends me tumbling back down to the basement.  Why bother to even have hope anymore? All roads lead to the same destination in the end.

In order to prevent me from opening a vein, I've been concentrating on knitting.  I started and completed the Channel Sweater in the last couple months.  This is a nice pattern with a lot of room for personal modification.  I used Knit Picks Risata yarn (sadly, discontinued a few years ago) in the regrettably-titled "Marionberry" colorway.  I have not tried it on since blocking it, but it fit just fine beforehand, so I'm not worried.  Unfortunately, I won't be able to wear it until like November.  Sigh.

I made a Wingspan scarf in the course of a week.  Cool pattern that uses just one 100gm ball of sock yarn (somewhere in the 420-450 yard range).  I used Mary Maxim's Step It Up yarn in the Tie Dyed colorway.  The intensity of the colors is really amazing. The yarn itself was fine, but not great.  I found two knotted joins towards the end of my project.  It was really annoying.  But the end result was good.

Last night I finished up a knitted Shower Puff.  Easy pattern, except for the sewing instructions at the end, which made no kind of sense to my addled brain at all.  I totally improvised, but I think it looks pretty good.  I just need to make a proper hanging mechanism, either crochet chain or i-cord.  I used Lily Sugar 'n Cream Scrubby yarn in green and yellow.  This yarn is only available in Michael's stores at present.  I tried to get it online because when I first saw it in the store, it was $3.99 a ball (only 68 yards, people --- RAGE). But, I couldn't find it anywhere online.  I went back to Michael's last week for something unrelated and noticed this yarn was 50% off.  So I bought a bunch of balls.  The yarn is all cotton and is a neat idea, but it's a little odd to work with.  And they really need to improve the yardage at that price if they are going to market it everywhere eventually.

 Dear, blogger:

I just now noticed after uploading 4 photos that you are FINALLY inserting the photos into the post where I want them, instead of dumping them at the top and making me drag them down through the post.

THANK YOU.

Had To Commit This To "Paper"

Virtual paper.

Ok so remember the post I wrote about that incredibly generous etsy seller Rose at CakeWalkYarns? Here's a picture of the two skeins of yarn that I received from her:

To refresh everyone's memory (mostly mine): The yarn colorway is called Hero Squad. And here's how it got that name:

Color: HERO SQUAD
Another yarn inspired by my favorite (albeit canceled) TV show, Arrested Development. Buster got distracted by the claw machine game in the bus station & missed his bus to the Army base. Forgetting all about boot camp, he arrived home with an armful of stuffed animal prizes. Buster (suddenly realizing his mistake) explained to the family that these were awards & that the army had assigned him to Hero Squad…mistaking the children’s cartoon for an actual military program. This yarn is inspired by the Buster’s imagination – it is a very bright green, speckled with many, many colors.




Ok. So how awesome and funny would it be if I made that knitted bunny using THIS yarn? Huh? HUH?? A stuffed animal knitted with yarn inspired by an Arrested Development episode about stuffed animals. Sweet. Even if I'm the only person who gets it, it's still good enough for me! And the other good thing about using this yarn is that it's washable because it's sock yarn! And a second --- no third --- good thing is that it will be super soft too for a baby. And the forth---I'll come in again.

Various and Sundry

Ok, I don't know why, but I kinda LOVE this.

http://stitchmana.com/pattern/spoilt-for-choice/

It's a free pattern called Spoilt for Choice. The designer's little story about how this garment came into being is quite amusing. There are about 15 ways to wear this thing. I just think it's super chic and unique. I might make one for Amy, my friend and colleague here at work who is super fun and funky and appreciates artistic quirkiness. Then I really want to make one for me. Although, I don't know if a very busty chick, like me, could pull this off.









Other things:

The scarf for my boss is done. But he's been all weird lately. My friend Amy (same one I mentioned above) and I tried to take him to lunch at the end of July (for which event I furiously knit away to complete that scarf). And he made some weird, cryptic remark (what a surprise) about how "no lunches will be had until September." What. Ever. Here's the scarf:


















Back at the end of April, my mom and sister got together and ordered a set of "Darn Pretty" Dyakcraft needles for me as a birthday present. Well, given that they were inundated with orders (because their needles are amazing), the folks at Dyakcraft could not manage to get them out to me until around 8-9 weeks later. But I did receive them around July 4, and the needles are pretty freakin' sweet. Pictures to follow.

I got the 3.5" set (sizes 4-10) in Hazelnut wood. The set also came with 4 stoppers and a beautiful, hand-sewn needle case in a brick red color with a chocolate brown grosgrain ribbon closure. Really pretty. I ordered the shorter length cables. Super smooth wood, but not lacquered. So there is no threat of something rubbing or flaking off. Joins for the cables are quite good, as are the cables themselves --- not too thick (like Denise) or thin as fishing lure (like Hiya Hiya). I think they are the right combination of flexible and thin. I will definitely order more cables for my needles. I am also very tempted to order a set of 5" needles. Maybe for Christmas or next year for my 40th birthday (GAH).

Now I see that they have sets of sock-sized DPNs for $40. You get FIVE sets of needles (US 0, 1, 1.5, 2, and 3). That's a REALLY good price for 5 sets of hand-turned needles. I hate being broke. LOL

Anyway here are some pics of the 3.5" Hazlenut set:


































I apologize for the quality of the photos. They looked better on the iPhone.











I am so pleased with the depth and variation of color in this set.













Anyway, I really like these needles a lot! And if you are in the market for a set of quality, interchangeable, wood needles, then these are definitely worth the $140 price tag.


Let's see what else? Oh, the Helix scarf. Done. Here's a picture:



















I also started knitting a February Lady sweater. I know several people who have knit this sweater. And there are over 11000 (yes eleven THOUSAND) knitters who have the February Lady sweater among their projects. I've been tossing around the idea of knitting this sweater for a couple years. I just wasn't sure how good the style would look on me. But, wanting to finally knit a sweater for ME, I decided to just go for it.

I'm using Valley Yarns Colrain. Very lovely, soft merino/tencel blend. The color I chose is called "Gray Teal." This is the most absurd color name for this yarn because it's neither gray NOR teal (which I hate, as you know), or even remotely close to one of those colors. It's more of a Nile green or even a jungle green. I mean seriously, just look at the swatch color. Gray Teal? Nope. Anyway, the label calls it heavy worsted, but it's really regular to light worsted. I'm knitting on size 8, which it what the pattern calls for and I seem to be getting gauge with no problem, albeit, the gull lace pattern seems pretty lacy already and I haven't finished yet (so no blocking yet).

Here's a picture:


Coming along nicely, I think! I'm knitting the 41" size. I tried it on (ah the beauty of top-down raglan construction) and it seems to be fitting pretty well. A little closer around the bust than I maybe like. But again, this is pre-blocked and it's still on the needles, which makes the measurements a little smaller.








I also got the MOST gorgeous buttons for this from etsy. Check THESE out:




The seller is LiDDesignsSupplies in Hoboken, NJ. All her buttons are super nice and unique.








Speaking of etsy, I've encountered some really nice sellers on there (and some freakin' idiots). One super nice person in particular is Rose over at Cakewalk Yarns. I saw this yarn on there the other day and flipped over sideways. HAD to have it:

It's 463 yards of sock yarn and the colorway was called Hero Squad. It got it's name from an episode of Arrested Development, which I thought was just too hilarious.
Here's her description:

Color: HERO SQUAD
Another yarn inspired by my favorite (albeit canceled) TV show, Arrested Development. Buster got distracted by the claw machine game in the bus station & missed his bus to the Army base. Forgetting all about boot camp, he arrived home with an armful of stuffed animal prizes. Buster (suddenly realizing his mistake) explained to the family that these were awards & that the army had assigned him to Hero Squad…mistaking the children’s cartoon for an actual military program. This yarn is inspired by the Buster’s imagination – it is a very bright green, speckled with many, many colors.

It was $21 for the skein plus $2 to ship. Not bad, especially since it's hand-dyed and on etsy (which tends to be uber expensive for sock yarn). So later that day I saw a convo from Rose. She said she re-skeined the yarn so that it didn't look exactly like the picture. But that if I was a yarn "collector" (oh how she knows us knitters!) she'd send me a re-re-skeined one. So I told her that I'd love to have one that looked like the picture, if only to admire (and show off!) for a little while before using it. This just HAS to be knit into something. But here are the rest of our convos:

Rose: Ok-I sent it off this afternoon before I got your note so I will get another one out to you in the morning. Not a problem! --Rose

Me: OH that's ok! Don't worry about it! Since you've already mailed it!
Gina

Rose: I insist! I should have asked you beforehand, I was just in a hurry to get to the post office before they close. You keep both, please. I think you are going to love Hero Squad & that way you can knit someone a gift.
Thanks very much—Rose

Me: Oh my gosh! That is so nice of you!!! Thank you so very much!
Gina

So now I am getting TWO skeins of this incredible yarn. I can't believe how generous and thoughtful some people are. Thank you, Rose from Cakewalk Yarns, for resorting my faith in humanity just a teeny bit!

It's October, Y'all

How did THAT happen? Time forever seems to escape me. Sigh. So I wanted to post some knitting stuff, purchases, etc. from the last month or so.

My good friend, Jen, is having a baby girl in January. So since late August I've been knitting up some goodies for her new addition. She's going to get a lot of knitted stuff from me. Ha ha. Gotta love Ravelry and the folks that put free or relatively inexpensive patterns up there. I don't think I've purchased a knitting book since I've joined Ravelry 3 years ago. Anyway, I digress.

First I knit a Garter Stitch Baby Bath Wrap:



Here's a link to the pattern, if anyone is interested. But really, it's a giant diagonal dishcloth with a hood attached. I'm sure even a beginner could figure it out. However, I could NOT figure out how to do the fancy, i-cord castoff for the hood part, which is what sets this pattern apart from it being just a giant dishcloth. Steam was pouring out of my ears, I was taxing my brain so hard. So I ended up just seaming it closed inside-out. It looks fine, I think.




Incidentally, colors for the baby's room (or as I say, "habitat") are green and yellow with a touch of orange. I had this yarn in my stash (Filatura Lanarota Circus) and it worked out perfectly. I got this yarn years ago from Smiley's online. It's been long discontinued. Super-nice cotton "roving" with acrylic color filaments. Very soft and great to work with. Wish I could put my hands on more, but it's not commercially available anymore and few people are willing to part with theirs on Ravelry (understandably)! Anyway, I really like it when I can work from my stash. Makes my random purchases somehow seem valid and awesome.

Next I knit a Breezy Baby Blanket:


Again, here's the pattern. A really fast, neat-o knit! I've seen something similar to this pattern where the dropped YOs are actually stockinette stitches. I think it's called Lizard Ridge?

Anyway, this is similar to that in appearance, but infinitely faster and easier, I think. For one thing, you are doing triple YOs and dropping them. And there are no short rows at all! No brain torture!



The yarn for this is Plymouth Bella Colour. I got 7 balls in this colorway (which I think was called Sherbet) from Discontinued Brand Name Yarn last summer. It an aran weight 55% cotton/45% acrylic blend that stripes rather beautifully. I used a little more than 4 balls, so about 440 yards total. How awesome is it that I had yarn in a vibrant lime, orange, and yellow colorway?? SCHWING!

I like this pattern a lot. So I am going to make a wrap for me in this pattern. Something that I can use in the winter in my flippin' cold house while watching TV or sitting in bed knitting or reading. I bought some striping aqua/chocolate yarn from Joann that I think will look cool.

Then I knit a Cotton Candy Baby Jacket:

I've knit this little baby sweater about a dozen times. No, seriously. I can just never remember to write about it or take pictures. This pattern is in a book called Hip Knits. It's one of the first knitting books I ever bought, in fact. I like most of the patterns in here. On Amazon, it's only got a 3-star overall rating (I gave it 4 out of 5). I don't know why. I think some people expected it to be "edgy" or "trendy" based on the title. Whatever. It's a decent book, in my book!

This is the first time I made it with the hood, as the pattern dictates. I always just made it a regular crew neck in the past. I like the hood!

So this yarn I got on clearance from Webs. It's darling. It's called Starship by di.Ve'. (WTF kind of name is that for a yarn company?) Anyway, it was cheap! I think I got it for $2.99 a ball. I used 3 balls and I have one left over. This colorway was called Parrot. I made 3 buttonholes in the front (as you can see) and only just Wednesday did I get myself to Joann's to buy buttons for it. So now it's completely done.

Wait there's more!

The Knitted Bunny:


Pattern link. Some patterns beckon me with a siren's song, and this is one of them. This is one of the most unique and wonderful patterns I've ever seen. I'm shocked that it was free.

Basically, you knit a square in stockinette and then with strategic seaming and a little pillow stuffing, you turn it into a bunny. It's amazing how it works.



I thought about sewing a face on it, but I like it just plain. The pattern mentions how to make a tail. (By taking a crochet needle, you just yank out a tuft of the stuffing right at the butt. Ingenious.) But since this bunny is going to be for a baby, I thought a tail wasn't a great idea. Believe it or not, I knit this in Sugar & Cream dishcloth cotton. The colorway is Buttercream. I used 1/2 a ball. Seaming was a little challenging at first, but the end result is well worth it. I see many more of these in my future. I already knit another in a fuzzy alpaca yarn for a friend's daughter. Just too cute.

Ok so the last thing I'm knitting (I think it's the last thing) is a Diamond and Smocked Cover. I don't have a photo of this yet, as I'm only about 7 inches into the project. But it's gorgeous. You can see it here. This was a "free" pattern, but the link to it doesn't work anymore. It's originally from an OLD Patons knitting pamphlet from the 1940s called Beehive for Bairns, Vol. 2. Some of the knitting jargon is a little odd. But I am managing through it ok. For example, instead of indicating a yarn over by today's standard, "yo," it says either "w.o.n." or "w.r.n." Yeah. I was like whaaaaaa?? But basically it means YO, depending on if it's before a knit or a purl stitch.

I just noticed that someone was selling the pamphlet on e-bay, so I bid on it. It's a 64-page booklet, so I imagine there are other undiscovered knitting treasures in there! This pattern is truly a thing of beauty to behold. I am using a cream colored 100% washable merino wool called Super Aussie from Queensland Collection. This yarn is so nice to work with. Very soft and light. So this item will be more of an "heirloom" knitted item. I hope to have it done by mid-November, which is when her baby shower will be.

September 25 was Knitters Day Out (KDO). I had a much better time this year than last year. (Well aside from the ghastly lunch that they foisted upon us a part of our registration fee. $15 wasted. Grrr.) Mostly because my wrist was in a splint last year and it was pretty painful to do anything. As always, I lumbered around the knitting vendors area in-between classes at the conference, drooling and stuttering. Financially, I'm still digging out of a hole, but I decided to splurge a little and get a couple amazing things from independent yarn shops. Time for show and tell!

First, I fell in love with the color of this yarn:

The color is called "Dill," and it's a sport weight 50/50 wool and alpaca blend from a local vendor in PA called Bearlin Acres Farm. I've purchased yarn from them every year I've gone to KDO. They are lovely people and have amazing yarns. And now they have a shop on Etsy! Man, I'm in trouble! :-)

I'm going to use this yarn (held double) along with a black wool worsted yarn I bought from them last year to make a felted bag. This bag, actually, but without the music bar and notes and I want to strap to be longer.



As I wandered around the vendor booths repeatedly, I kept passing this amazing yarn, copping a feel every time I went by:

I lurve the color and it has amazing luster, too. It's a deep taupe or mushroom color. I came to learn that it's the natural color of the goat that gave the fleece. Yes, I said goat. It's 50% mohair and 50% wool. Most of you who know me also know that I really can't do mohair. Even yarns with small amounts of mohair are usually so unbearably itchy that I steer clear.

Not this yarn. This feels like alpaca or a merino silk blend or something similar. It's amazingly soft and pettable. Not exactly cheap: $24 for 250 yards of worsted weight. But worth it, I think.

I learned a lot about mohair from the vendor, Steam Valley Fiber Farm. Basically most of the mohair found in yarn that is commercially available from major yarn companies is crap. It's the fleece from a very old goat or a goat that has been shorn so many times that their mohair is coarse, wiry, and itchy. Poor goats. The best mohair is from young goats and/or from goats that have had a limited number of shearings. So, I'm wondering what to do with it. Maybe a cowl of some sort? I'll think of something. Maybe I'll go pet it some more.

So that's about it so far for my creativity. I did make and post the pattern for the Sweet Kitty glasses case. Here's the link to it on Ravelry. All-in-all, a pretty creative month!

Blissfully Overwhelmed!

As I mentioned a few posts ago, I participated in a February swap to help us crafty types get through what was (for my part of the world, anyway) a nasty, bitterly cold, snow-ridden month! A huge thank-you to Leah, who was our swap hostess.

My swap partner was Karin over at The Periwinkle Sheep. Karin also has a shop on etsy, which has some of the most beautifully hand-dyed yarns ever! I've thoroughly enjoyed getting to know Karin and had a wonderful time reading her blog. Today my swap package arrived, and I just about fainted when I opened it. Karin's generosity was truly amazing and I can't find the words to say how thankful and touched I am (and lucky)!

Here's what I saw when I opened the box:


One of the parameters of this swap was to choose 4 things from a list (all very thoughtful ideas, thanks to Leah). Well, I counted 5 just at a first glance, 3 of them being HUGE SKEINS OF YARN!









Here's a shot of the complete contents:


I was, and still am, flabbergasted by all the wonderful things:

a handmade project bag (which I've been wanting one like this for evah!)
lovely hand cream
2 boxes of tea
2 chocolate bars (super fancy ones!)
and 3 incredible skeins of yarn







Look at this chocolate! I'm a huge fan of dark chocolate. I love the amazing combinations going on here, too!









The purple and green yarns were hand-dyed by Karin, herself! They are each 400+ yards of yummy fingering weight yarn. They are super soft and I just adore the colors --- so vibrant and spring-like! Yay for spring!

The gray yarn is from an "almost local" (as Karin said) yarn place in New Hampshire. It's a lovely shade of gray and it's very soft and warm. Really nice stuff!











Can't wait to try the tea! I am so looking forward to that lemon lavender one, particularly!












And I am all about nice hand lotion. Seriously. My hands are a disaster in the winter. They get so bad, they crack and bleed. So this is greatly appreciated and needed! Also? Check out the fragrance: chocolate mint. Oh man. It smells like mint chocolate chip ice-cream.









Ok so I wouldn't be at all surprised if Karin all the way up in Albany heard me screaming from Claymont, DE when I saw this project bag. I have been wanting one of these cute, little, wristlet-type bags for forever. Every time I set myself to get one, they are either insanely expensive or sold out. This is so pretty, too. Colors, execution, shape, size --- it's all perfect. I lurve it.

SQUEE!


Thank you SO much, Karin, for your wonderful, generous gifts! I absolutely love everything!

More Sock Love

I have been cranking along with my Talbot socks (the houndstooth pattern). I finished 70 rounds of the pattern, which is the official stopping point for the leg in the pattern. But I think I am going to have plenty of yarn to extend the socks another 20 rounds so that they will be knee-high. There is unique gusset stitching as part of this pattern that has me a little nervous. It sort of looks like a checkerboard---very cool. I hope that I can do it. Maybe I am just stalling so I don't have to do that part? The 39690 round sock leg....

Here's a picture when I had about 40 rounds done:

















Anyway, I am very happy with how these are turning out. I think part of the reason for my joy is the yarn I'm using. I just can't say enough good things about KnitPicks Essential (or Stroll, as it's now called) sock yarn. It's cheap as chips, soft as a cloud, and the yarn never frays, splits, untwists, knots or gets too thick or thin somewhere down the line. I've purchased many of the kettle-dyed solids, which are now on clearance. (I even bought another skein of the soot colorway that I am using in the Talbot socks, just to have it on hand.) I also have several of the hand-pained colorways, including Tiger, Tree Fort, Tea Party, and Make Believe. All more beautiful in person, truly.

I am interested in trying the Imagination Hand Painted yarn at some point. (I'm a sucker for anything with alpaca in it.) If anyone has tried this yarn, I'd love to hear your thoughts on it. Although, it's pretty reasonably priced that I could just buy a skein and try it out!

The other yarn I'm using is Fortissima Colori Disco. I like this one too. It has a nice hand (though not as nice as the Essential) and the sparkly bits aren't scratchy. It's been discontinued, so if you are interested in getting some, Little Knits (linked above) is the only place that I've seen this yarn. And it's pretty cheap. I ordered another ball in the same colorway that I'm using in the Talbot socks.

I have another pair of socks going, too. Just a generic pair in self-patterning yarn -- another yarn that deserves a mention. Premier Serenity Sock Yarn. It's part of the Deborah Norville collection. Yes, Deborah Norville's el cheapo sock yarn is actually very lovely. This yarn runs about $3-$3.50 a ball, so you can make a pair of socks for $6-$7. The yarn itself is a blend of wool, bamboo, and nylon. It's super soft, easy on your hands, and it patterns very nicely. And they feel wonderful on your feet.

True story: I knit a pair of socks this fall using this yarn in the thyme colorway. I wore them once, washed them (washed beautifully) and packed them when I went to visit my sister in NC in December. One night she mentioned that her feet were cold and all she had available at that moment were trouser socks (those semi-sheer, hosiery-type things), and her little ankle-high running socks. So I said, "I have a pair you can wear." I pulled out the Deborah Norville socks. She put them on and had a nice, toasty evening. She wore them again the next night. And the next. That night she said, "Ok, so how much do you want for these socks? Because you're not getting them back." I laughed and said, "Oh, you can have them!" I was so delighted that she liked them. I think that was probably once of the nicest comments a knitter could receive. Just WEAR the stuff we knit!

So anyway, I had planned on experimenting with a short-row heel. I wanted to have the look of continued striping going, rather than the large blocks of color that you end up with when doing the heel-flap kind. I've heard that the short-row heels are easier, faster, and use less yarn. Uh huh. Oh. My. Dog. It took me forever to do that stupid short-row heel, and it looked horrendous. Very holey and flimsy. I ripped it out and did the standard heel flap, which, honestly, doesn't look all that bad and just seems sturdier and more substantial. There is another type of heel that I am interested in trying, the afterthought heel. This looks basically like your a making a toe dome where the heel is. Maybe I'll attempt that on my next pair.

Sock Love

So the socks I knit for Josh & Jen went over well! I think they really liked them, and it was a relief when they tried on their respective pairs and they both fit wonderfully! Whew!

If you would have asked me a couple of years ago what was the last thing I would ever be able to knit I would have said SOCKS. It's amazing to me how rewarding and enjoyable sock knitting has become for me. That said, I have acquired a lot of sock yarns. Even so, I don't have too many solid colors, but I saw this pattern on Ravelry today and I just fell in love with it. In fact, I bumped it up to #1 in my queue and I just might cast-on tonight!

So what would you think if I used these 2 sock yarns (yay -- from my stash) to knit it:

Knit Picks Essential Kettle Dyed in Soot and

Schoeller+Stahl Fortissima Colori Disco (this colorway is #2) I used the close-up photo so you can see the metallic, sparkly bits in the yarn. But the color is a subtle ombre of gray and taupe and it's a little brighter/lighter than it appears in the photo.Since you only need a standard amount of sock to be able to knit a pair (around 400 yards), I was thinking of making these super-special: a pair of knee-length socks!

I also have that kettle-dyed Essential in a deep purple (almost eggplant) color, which could be an option as well.

Updates

Hello all! I have good news and bad (well, not seriously bad) news. Good news first: I am happy to report that my attempt to destash some yarn and make a little cash in the process has been successful so far! It's been really nice to have a little bit of a balance in my PayPal account to buy a skein of "must-have" yarn, or a knitting notion or two, or a little something special from etsy.

So far I've made $131 from selling yarn in my etsy shop; and another $61 selling directly from my Ravelry "will-trade-or-sell" list. So $192--- not too shabby! That total does not include the shipping amounts, either! There's still more that I want to get rid of. Given the good results so far, I am very encouraged!

Some more good news: I did finish the pair of socks for Jen (the orange striped ones). And I am on track to finish the slate blue "Data Socks" for Josh, hopefully at some point this weekend! So I'll be all set for them come the Valentine's Day weekend.

Now the "bad" news. Remember that wedding wrap that I started for my future sister-in-law? Yeah, well there is no way that I am ever going to get that thing finished. In yesterday's mail I got the invitation to her bridal shower, which is March 13. ACK. I didn't expect it to be that soon. Although, I must admit that I don't know where my brain is! I mean really, it IS already the end of the first week of February and the wedding is early May. Sigh. Anyway, it's not going to happen. I only just found where I stashed it away (to keep it from feline influence). Talk about out of sight, out of mind!

And here's some potentially actually bad news: we need to take Sophie to the vet again for a thyroid check-up. These never turn out well. First of all, she's always half a pound lighter than she was the time before. Not good. Sophie used to be a 22-pound cat. Seriously. One day a few years ago I happened to be paying closer attention to her and realized that she looked great. A routine vet visit confirmed that she had lost a lot of weight; she was down to about 16 pounds. But since that time, which was not more than 3 years ago, she's consistently lost about 1.5 pounds a year. This is a lot for a cat. So in less than 3 years, she's gone from 16 to 11.5 pounds. :-(

She started on a thyroid regime about the same time we first noticed the weight loss. So, obviously, we're STILL not getting the dosage right. I just want her to stop losing weight. Thankfully, her appetite is still good. She doesn't drink as much water as I'd like. In fact, the last time we brought her in to the vet, Sophie was pretty dehydrated and they gave her some fluids. The sight of the bag of fluids makes me very sad. That was the last step before euthanasia for Mr. Chesterfield.

There are other potential issues with Sophie, too. For one thing, I'm starting to doubt the accuracy of her date of birth, something we have long thought to be March 1996. My sister adopted Sophie in November of 1997 and was told at that time that Sophie was "a year and a half old." Given the debacle with Mr. Chesterfield's age when we adopted him, I have an ever increasing terror that Sophie isn't approaching 14, but 19 or 20. Also, she was in bad shape when she was initially rescued. She had a really bad case of pneumonia, the effects of which still plague her today. She is prone to respiratory infections and has had fluid around her heart and lungs a couple of times. Plus at her last vet check-up we learned that she has fractal cataracts. She can still see, but she might see as if she were looking through a kaleidoscope or faceted glass. Great.
AND she's been having accidents again around the house, which is really disconcerting. We had to move a small litter box into the front foyer for her to use because she was just randomly peeing on the floor right there for no reason. Todd is very diligent about keeping the boxes in good order and no other cats take issue with them.

I just don't want her to suffer along, getting skinnier and skinnier, sicker and sicker. Sometimes I truly wonder if the vet's office has Sophie's best interests at heart. She's a veritable goldmine for them by way of check-ups, medicine, tests, shots, fluids, etc. Maybe that's crazy talk, but....