Bow-Chicka-Bow-Bow Yarn Pr0n

OK, have I got pics for you today! The first is my latest dishcloth being modeled saddle style by the lovely Morris. Doesn't it figure that the best pic is the one with his eyes closed? tsh tsk, bad model. I get to keep this one. The next is the enhancement to my stash that I brought back from NY with me. Note the wonder that is the space bag. Before: After: My space bag spilleth over. Here's a close-up of the 2 dozen (!) skeins of Lion Jiffy my mother gave me. It was at one time intended to be an afghan. I don't do afghans. So now I have to figure out what to make with all this yarn. Might be good for a practice sweater, or 4. This is the awesome yarn that came with the white cabled knitting bag my sister got me from Anthropologie. It came with a scarf pattern, but I'm not sure that's what I want to do with this. So many possibilities... And this is some of the other yarn that was magically sucked into that space bag as well. This brings it to 36 skeins in one bag! I have to say, Joann's has some really nice, yummy yarn. I wish I had a Joann's here in Charlotte rather than Michaels. The selection is so much better, even for a craft store in a bumfuck north, left of the middle of nowhere town, it's a better selection than all the Michaels here in Charlotte combined. And that wasn't all, there's the yarn for the Voodoo wristwarmers I started while home: The yarn for the Holey Moley Scarf I picked up for $2 a skein: And finally, the yarn I treated myself to last night while visiting my favorite LYS, Charlotte Yarn. The Lamb's Pride will be for a pair of Fuzzy Feet. The Anny Blatt was on sale, 40% off, so I thought it might be a good yarn for a first pair of socks after trying out the fuzzy feet. The lavendar stuff in front is cotton chenille and will be for a flower facecloth from Weekend Knitting. And then I had to add on to my double pointed needle collection. I really enjoy working with them, I thought it would be hard, but it's very satisfying. So, there we are! Please, if you have any suggestions for the Lion Jiffy, please, please, please let me know.

Space Bags Rock

I forgot my digital camera at home, so pics will be coming later. But man, lemme tell ya, space bags rock! I managed to bring home over 30 skeins of yarn in one alone. 24 of which are Lion Brand Jiffy in a variegated purple and white (and green? Can't recall off the top of my head.) My mom ordered it years ago to make an afghan, now it's mine. I have no idea what to do with it yet. But now I have all the yarn that I'm not sure what to do with, but know I won't be touching it any time soon, stuffed into space bags. I highly recommend them for storage purposes. Got a bit farther on the Holey Moley Scarf. I should finish and block it this weekend. Then I need to get going on Aihblinn. My friend's B-Day is on the 11th and I really want to get it done in time. I've got about 3 inches or so done. But I'm giving fair time to my Voodoo wristwarmers too this weekend. I want to be wearing those before too long. And heck, I deserves something for myself!

On the Road Again

Well, I'll be flying back home in a couple hours. I'm looking forward to getting back to my kitties and my own bed. Not looking forward to all the work I'll have to catch up on, but that's the way it goes, right? I went to Joann's the day after Christmas and snagged a couple skeins of their Holiday Wool-ease. I didn't even know Lion Brand came out with it. It's snow white with a silver thread running through it. I'm making the Holey Moley Scarf from the recent Creative Knitting out of it for the girl cat-sitting for me. I won't be done in time to give it to her along with the payment for the actual sitting, but who knows. If I don't get her the cash until Friday, then yeah, I'll have it ready. I'm not bringing any of those WIPs with me in my carry-on though. I just don't want to risk them not being allowed since they're on metal needles. Well, the wristwarmers aren't, they're on plastic DPNs but those seem to have metal in the center of them. So, I cast on for another dishcloth, this time one for me! It's a safe project for a plane, mindless and on plastic circs. I'll also have my portable DVD player with The 40-year Old Virgin in it to entertain me. Yay! I'll be home hugging my kitties in about 8 and a half hours!

Knitmas success!

Well, sis loved her sweater vest and "got it" as far as how much time and effort something like that takes. So that made me feel so much better! And her fiance loved his scarf too. She laughed because she had been working on a scarf for him for a while but never finished it, now she thinks she'll frog it and make something else. Cousin loved her cowl (I really wasn't sure how that would go over, it is odd looking) and her kids promptly traded scarves, then eventually traded back. Kids are so funny. Uncle loved his scarf as well and Mom loved her hat and scarf. She did mention that it was a wee bit loose, which I was afraid of. I had used the scarf yarn as a carry along yarn for the brim and since it was essentially a thin ribbon of yarn with fur, I didn't think the gauge would be so affected by it. Well, you learn. I'm going to try weaving two of the ribs together and see if that works. I was also able to get my first dishcloths done! I made them from the pattern in Creative Knitting magazine's holiday edition. They're the same yarn (Sugar 'n Cream) and pattern, one's just wet. Funny how water totally changes the character of a yarn? I had to make my mom get the first one wet. I told her it wasn't a doily, it's meant to get wet and be used. She also tried saying her scarf and hat were for "special occasions" i.e. they're staying in the box for eternity because she's afraid to wear them. I said just because it's handknit doesn't mean you shouldn't wear it. I made them to be worn so go ahead already! Funny, she's the one that taught me to knit in the first place. This is the panta I made my mother this weekend, inspired by Zibibbo's recent blog post. It turned out beautifully. It's made from Joann's Sensations Angel Hair yarn. It took me a little less than two evenings to make on size 5 needles. I'm planning on making one for me, altered to include a couple cables rather than raised ribs. Currently I have 2 WIPs. I'm working on some Voodoo Wristwarmers for me, wrestling with double pointed needles. And I frogged the beginnings of the wimple I was making for my friend. The pattern just wasn't turning out the way I envisioned so I'm using the pattern for an Aibhlinn and plan on altering the bottom of it to flare out over the shoulders like the wimple pattern I have does. So we'll see. My mom about had a heart attack when I ripped out what I had done. But it's looking much better now. My very wonderful sister who got my name for Christmas, got me this wonderful knitting bag. It's gorgeous! Love it, love it, love it. Here's a pic of the bag itself. I love the cable in the middle. It has a pair of bamboo needles inside and a bamboo crochet hook as well! I had no idea they made bamboo crochet hooks. I can't wait to start using it once I get back to Charlotte and away from all the snowy wetness. Here's hoping everyone had as great a Christmas as I did!

Casting on...again

I made the scarf for my Uncle last night - it's identical to the Future-Bro-in-Law's. Nice and soft. I may try blocking this one when I get home tomorrow. I also cast on for the wimple (formerly referred to as a cowl) for my friend's birthday. The pattern is from the pattern-a-day calendar for 2006 she got me for Christmas. Specifically, November 18th & 19th. I did a few rows on it, realized I was doing stockinette and switched to purl. I'm going to do a few different stitch patterns throughout it. I really want this to be a unique gift. I also went ahead and started a dishcloth on some plastic size 8 circs for the plane ride home tomorrow. I know knitting needles are allowed now, but I'm not wanting to chance anything by bringing metal needles in my carry on. The circs are from my Knit-Knack Kit. and really blunt. Not something I'll cry over if they take them. I've also printed out the list from the tsa website that says they're allowed. So I'm all set. I'm doing this cool spiral dishcloth pattern from the winter Creative Knitting magazine. I think I'll give it to my Dad as a cloth for his glasses. I like the one I made earlier that was supposed to be a dishcloth, so I think he'll like it too. We shall see. I have so much to do today. I did manage to vacuum and tidy the apartment and clean out the fridge already. I still have to pack, go to Sam's after work and cash in my membership voucher from work, and hopefully find something for my Dad. He wouldn't wear anything knitted, so I didn't make him anything. Should he decide otherwise while I'm home I will most certainly make something. I also have a friend that wants to come by and see me before I leave (she's one of those people that get's premonitions or gut feelings about something and I have a feeling she's not feeling to positive about my plane travel. And she's usually right, this makes me nervous.) Oh, and I need to call and schedule a cab to pick me up at 5am (ugh) and cancel delivery of my newspaper. I failed to notify the post office so hopefully the girl that's cat-sitting for me can help me out there. I need to water all my plants, buy kitty litter, get cash for the cab...Ugh. I hope I can get out of work early today. Merry Christmahannakwanzakah to all!

My Needles are Bare.

The Christmas knitting is done! Yeah, I know, I still have my Uncle's scarf to do. But that will take me all of an hour tonight so I'm calling it done. The hat and scarf is for my mother. She picked out the fuzzy yarn (I'm trying to block it from my memory so I can't remember what brand it is) and I paired it with Wool-ease in black for the matching hat. The hat was made from Ann Budd's Handy Book of Patterns and the scarf from a Lion Brand pattern I can't seem to find anymore on their website. It's a simple keyhole scarf done in seed stitch. I hope she likes it. The kid's scarves and the cowl for my cousin I winged. No pattern! Wee! On scarves, I mixed fun fur with homespun so it was still warm, yet fun. I tried a bell shape on the purple garter stitch one, it coulda turned out better, but I'm happy overall. The other one looks so pretty, the pic doesn't do it justice. It's just a straight garter stitch. The cowl is from Paton's Bohemian. It started out in a 4x4 rib and progressed to 3x3 then finally 2x2. It looks pretty cool. And I like the button too. It feels so soft around the neck. I hope she likes it. I know it borders on the "You Knit What?", in fact, they all do. But hey, I figure at the very least, they can use them for dress-up. The kids are young.

Bobblicious is done!

I finished it with only half an hour to spare. The seams look kinda crappy, but that's ok because I looked and looked for a good way to join reverse stockinette and couldn't find it and winged it. I got a ton of compliments on it and plenty of requests for the pattern. One lady at the party even said she'd pay $300 for it in a boutique and that I should sell them! Ha! I say, "Learn to knit". But hey, it felt great. Even the experienced knitter's there were amazed I did it in a little less than a week. I'm so glad I didn't end up meeting my friend for lunch saturday because I wouldn't have finished it if we did. Yay! I can't wait to make another one, this time I'll do the arms in the round and instead of bobbles, I'll do loops. And I only used 4 skeins instead of the 5 the pattern called for. Probably because I did the russian join to connect new skeins. But also, I think the pattern writer included an extra row of bobbles in hers that weren't written into the pattern. Oh well.

I'm gonna look festive tonight...

It's not quite 11am and I'm ready to start the bobble section to finish off Bobblicious. 5 sets pattern rows and seam it up, and I'm ready! I still haven't heard from the friend I was supposed to have lunch with, so hopefully that won't put a crimp in my knitting time. The later she calls, the less time I'll have to give myself to get it all done. Well...guess I'd better get back to it.

I'm a Ghetto Knitter, and I'm proud of it.

That's right. I said it. I'm a ghetto knitter. I came across this button on .Mamma's blog and it immediately called to me. I followed the button to one of it's founders,candsmom where I saw her compelling declaration. So here is my own. "I live for Lion Brand, Red Heart, Bernat, Sugar 'n Cream and Caron. I will never have a whole sweater knit out of Alpaca, Mohair or Angora or even 100% Wool. Can't afford it. I own no Addi Turbos, but have an extensive collection of Boye's. I buy my knitting books used from Amazon, when I can. Yes, I've collected a library to rival that of Borders, Barnes and Noble and Books-a-Million, but it's not paid for. Thanks to Visa. But I've not charged a single skein of yarn. Give me your Thick 'n Quick, your Wool-ease, your Boucle, Fun Fur (yeah, Fun Fur), your Homespun, Landscapes (But only as a gift, it's still a wee pricey for me), your Super-Saver, Simply Soft and your One Pounder. I will knit them all on my Boye Needles and proudly show it off. I'm not afraid, for I, am a Ghetto Knitter."

So close I can smell it...

I think I can, I think I can, I think I can... When I test fit it, it's about a third of the way down my other arm. Between tonight and tomorrow, I think I'll be wearing it by 7pm for the party. I do have to meet a friend for lunch tomorrow, and it's about an hour there and an hour back so hopefully I can get a lot of it done tonight before I go to bed. The bobble section took me about 4 hours-ish so I need to give myself at least that much time tomorrow to do it. Oh, and there's my dinky little tree. It's about 2 feet tall. I've had it for about 5 years now, and last year was the first year I had to use any of the spare lights. Well, about an hour after I took this photo, the bottom half went out and I'm completely out of spare bulbs. Fabulous. And they're the little round kind too. Maybe I'll wait until after I get back from NY and buy me a new tree in the post-holiday sales.

Ze Scarf - She ees done!

Here it is in all of it's dried, blocked and fringed glory! Yay!

I scream, You scream, we all scream for...ice?

All day yesterday all you'd hear on the news is that there was ice on the way. A couple years ago we had a pretty bad ice storm that basically shut down the city for a couple days. So it's understood that they'd warn us all about the potential for another one. I didn't think much of it though, watching the news. It didn't look like my area where I live and work would be terribly affected. And when I woke up and looked out at the dark parking lot, I could see it was raining and I saw puddles on the asphalt, so I thought there was no ice. Then I walked outside to get in my car to leave. Boy was I wrong. My car was covered in a sheet of ice. It took me 20 minutes just to defrost the windshield enough to be able to scrape off the layer of ice. The drive was fine though. I don't cross any bridges or overpasses so it wasn't a problem. There were accidents all over the city though. On another note, I gave Jimmy his scarf last night (figuring he might need it today) and it ended up just the right length. He's happy, and I'm happy. Whee! I also finally put up my dinky tree last night (pics later) even though I'll only enjoy it a week before I leave for NY. But it's nice to be in the spirit and not look like a scrooge. Bobblicious is coming along nicely. I've just started the 3rd of 6 skeins of yarn. After I fringe the HP scarf tonight, I hope to get a lot more of it done. Saturday is approaching quickly! And hey, check out my new sleek blogger template. Like it?

Bobblicious is officially started

So, I managed the three-needle bind-off on the HP scarf last night. Flipping the thing inside out to weave in all the ends was tedious, but I got it done. My provisional cast-on was successful too. I managed to pick up all the stitches and finish off the last few rows and bound that off too. I washed it (boy did that red heart yarn bleed. I'm hoping, actually, that it calmed down the gold a bit) and it's blocking now. It probably won't be ready for the fringe treatment until tomorrow night, but I might go ahead and get it cut at least. I started Bobblicious last night. The bobbles were a bit time consuming. Knitting into the front and back twice and then once again was not easy with such big needles and chunky yarn. I've though about trying the YO method of bobbling, but I don't know if they'll turn out looking different, so I'll just keep trucking. I got through 1 and a 1/4 rows of the bobble pattern. Hopefully I can at least finish the first bobble section tonight and get the reverse stockinette humming along. I really want to wear this on Saturday.

Harry Potter and the Magically Finished Scarf

So last night, after finishing the scarves for the kidlets and getting halfway through the cousin's cowl, I finished up the 9th MC pattern repeat of the HP scarf and you know what? It's done! Somehow, I knitted up a couple more feet between last night and Thursday afternoon when I last tested it for length. Now all that's left is conquering the 3 needle bind-off, picking up the stitches from the provisional cast-on and knitting 3 rows and binding off. (But first weaving in the loose ends from the trapped bars) and then the fringe! I'll probably wash it before I wrap it up and send it, just to get it all soft and nice smelling, but I don't think it'll need actual blocking. Yay! As a treat to myself for doing so well with my Christmas knitting schedule, I'm casting on Bobblicious tonight and hope to finish it for a Christmas party on Saturday. Wee!

I think it's almost done. I've done 9 repeats of the trapped bar, and am nearly done the final MC repeat. It's long. It's plenty long I believe. I know others have stopped at the 9 repeat mark, and I didn't think that would be long enough, but now that I'm there. I think it's long enough. But I don't want to chance waiting for me to finish with the fringe and the blocking and finishing to ship my Nephew's gift. So this is what went in his package along with a book. On the finished object front, I got my cousin's scarves almost done! I have the two kid's scarves finished and am halfway through my cousin's. I've decided to make her a cowl. I'm winging it, but I think it'll turn out pretty cool. Pics of all three when the cowl is done. Oh, in the pic above, the bottom box says this: "It's knit in a tube so it looks the same from both sides. That's 90 stitches per row in that tube. There is supposed to be 880 rows in the pattern. I've done 603. That's 54,270 stitches out of 79,200. That's love. Don't worry, I'm not going to do all 13 repeats of the pattern. You'd be stepping on it. Even when you reach 6 feet." Heh, think he'll appreciate it?

It's Done!

It's done, it's done, it's done! Hooray! I'm at a lose for any other words, I'm sure you'll understand. I've been working all day on this thing to finish off the last 16 inches. I've washed it, and it's blocking now as we speak. The cats are quite pissed off about it too. I've put it in the only place I can cat proof in this apartment. My office. Hey, it's got a door. The pic on the right is more for proof than detail. I got a detailed one for ya below. Pattern:

Irish Hiking Scarf 100%

Yarn:

Lion Brand Wool-Ease Worsted Weight

in Oxford Grey (2 1/4 skeins 443 yds) Needles: Size 8 Length: 72 inches

Talk about random...

You're Andy's wife Tracey Taylor! You've outlasted
a hand full of other Duran wives and
girlfriends over the past 20+ years.

Which Duran Duran Wife/Ex Wife Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla Heh, Andy was always my favorite.

The End is in Sight!

So, being the idiot that I am, I forgot about my Stitch 'n Bitch group meeting last night. By the time I remembered, I'd have been an hour late. So rather than waste the knitting time, I sat myself down on the couch and pulled out the Irish Hiking Scarf. I'm going to keep taking turns each night between it and the HP scarf until they're both done. I managed to put 10 more inches on it yesterday! It's going so much faster since I figured out how to hold the yarn over my right finger for both knitting and purling. Go me!

Appropriate...

Found this little quiz. Considering the "what book are you" quiz results for me was "Anne of Green Gables" I thought this was appropriate. You are Diana, Anne's "bosom" friend.
You get teased by Anne sometimes, but you're a
very good friend and you have a crush on
Gilbert.. you don't get him, though. You tend
to be shy, but you can still be stupid... (You
got drunk that one time.)

Which Anne of Green Gables Character Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

SweetSophie

I know many of you (heh, many - who am I kidding?) that read this blog do not frequent the HBO Deadwood Bulletin Boards. I'm a huge fan of the show, and have been a member of that online community since the show started. I learned last night that one of our members passed away after a night of enjoying W. Earl Brown's music with other members of the DW Community. She went by the name "SweetSophie" and she was just that. Sweet. She was also funny as hell, a wonderful writer and a huge fan. Words cannot say all there is to say about this wonderful woman. She will be missed.

How weird are you?

You Are 20% Weird

Not enough to scare other people... But sometimes you scare yourself.

How Weird Are You?

Hee hee, I thought I was weirder than that. This is good news.

Mixed Emotions

I had high hopes for making some good progress this weekend on my HP and Irish Hiking scarves. But alas, they were dashed. I had to drive an hour north to a freinds house for a "jewlery party" (yes, I spent too much - but I got a cool canvas tote out of it!) and right after I got home, went out to dinner and watched "Walk the Line" (fabulous, fabulous movie) and only got a chance at 10:30pm to pick up my knitting. I did manage to get the 7th trapped bar repeat finished. And today, I won't have much of a chance until the evening either. But for an even better reason - I'm going to the Panther's game against Atlanta! Yay! ETA - I was able to work on the IHS on my way to and from the game. So I've actually been able to add a good 5 or 6 inches on to it today. I need to make an official measurement, then I can update the progress bar on the right. But yay! The weekend wasn't a total loss!

*sigh* Indeed, only halfway...

So, I finally got around to testing the length of the HP scarf last night. I wrapped it around my neck and...it doesn't even reach my waist yet. So the fill 13 repeats is bang on. But you know what, that actually makes me really happy because that means that the pattern I came up with is right. It's not going to be too long, and the pattern matches up with the movie scarf. I'm happy. Daunted, but happy. I think this weekend though, I'll knock off my Cousin and her kid's scarves. I think I'll call my mom and tell her to measure her head so I can do a hat next week too. I still have to find some yarn for the main color to go with the baby puke green/yellow/orange yarn of her keyhole scarf. *sigh* As for the kitchen. It's all back in place. The new floor looks great, the exact same stuff that was in my last apartment. I'm just glad it's over with, and I think the cats are too:

Progress Sucks this Week

Ugh. My apartment is in shambles. See, ever since I moved into it in March, the back door in the kitchen has leaked everytime it rains. At first, it wasn't so bad, but a towel down and that was fine. Then, everytime I'd step near the door, the floor sunk just a bit more than the last time. I had reported this when I first moved in, but the apt. management declared "there's nothing we can do about it." Boy, do I wish I had recorded THAT statement because they sure as hell don't remember it. I finally got a maintenance guy over to fix (yet) another leak and had him look at the floor in the kitchen. "Oh yeah, we can fix that. I'll call the contractors and have them come take a look at it." Less than a week later, they had replaced the subfloor in that spot. Problem was, they didn't replace the linoleum where they ripped up the floor. They left a note saying "Please call the office to schedule replacement of the linoleum." Well, woo-hoo! I get new linoleum to replace the decades old crap that's in there. BUT - I have to take out EVERYTHING in the kitchen in order to do it. Everything but the stove and the fridge that is. So they're coming today, and my kitchen is in my living room and the cats are locked up in the bedroom. That's not even the whole of it. Yesterday I had the apartment exterminated because palmetto bugs are gross and I don't care what anyone says, they're cockroaches to me. And they creep me out. I've had problems with that since day one too. I've tried spraying myself, but it only helps temporarily. In order to have them do it, I had to have the cats out of the apt. for the day. So we took a field trip to a friends house yesterday and they camped out there. The worst part was having to thoroughly empty the kitchen cabinets though. Everything, and I mean everything, was in my living room yesterday. I was able to put back all the stuff that was in the cabinets last night, and that helps a wee bit. But man, I can't wait to get home, see that new linoleum floor, and put it all back the way it was. I've gotten very little knitting done because of it all this week. (See? Thought I wasn't going to get it related to knitting did ya?) So, I'm 5 rows into the 6th pattern repeat of the HP scarf. And I do indeed think I'll be stopping at 9 repeats, so, can I say I'm 75% done? Can I? Huh? Huh?