Pixellated Photos Do Not a Good Blog Make.

So, I'm all bragging on the awesome pictures my friend took, only to have them turn out all pixely and strange. So D. dorked around with them a bit and I fixed them. So please, even if you took a look yesterday, take another look today. And click on the pics to see a bigger, better view of the photos. They're worth it.

I'm so Vain, I probably think this blog is about me. Oh wait, it is.

Oh, and file this under "C is for Cristi" So, I had a busy weekend. Not so much knitting-wise (started a Booga-Bag last night - whoopty doo!) but otherwise. Saturday, it's was this cutie's 1st birthday: I know, that's obviously not a 1 yr old, but my favorite picture of the kid. Deal. Then it was off to church for a fun-filled weekend of running the powerpoint. It was also my last weekend doing it for the foreseeable future. I have many things going on in my head about this church, I love it, but there are aspects of it that just aren't clicking for me. Anyway... Sunday, after the 3rd service, I headed back to the birthday girl's house to serve as a model for her mother. D. is a very dear friend of mine. I've been trying to talk her into doing her photography professionally for a long time. She's finally got herself a set-up to do it. Now I get to be the guinea pig to help her figure out the lighting. So, let me say this now. All images in this post (including the one above) are property of dkennyimaging (website not yet ready for the public to view, but eventually a link will be provided on this site.). So, I promised a couple weeks ago some real good posed shots of me modeling the Aihblinn (I give up trying to spell it right anymore). Now, I'm not trying to brag or anything, but damn. I'm pretty hot. Check out the detail: Just call me Cristi Hepburn. Heh. And the official picture to show off the Aihblinn: Pretty cool huh? And lest you think I'm this chick that thinks she's so hot and ready for "America's Next Top Model" - I give you this: That's for my sister. She's always hated that face. It creeps her out. So of course I do it on purpose every time I see her. Now that she's across the country, I can e-mail it to her on a whim. Heh.

Yabba Dabba Doo!

I've got a serious coffee buzz this morning. I was up until nearly midnight last night. You know why? This is why:

Aren't they fun? And see how they match? I wasn't even going for that. Not with this yarn. I don't think it would have mattered in the least if the stripe pattern was off. But it worked out. Here's a good heel shot: I was so excited to wear them this morning, I actually had breakfast. Fruity Pebble Socks. That's what I've got. And of course I had to wear shoes to display them in all their glory: I'm in love. I can't wait to knit my second pair. I won't be using this pattern again though. I'm not in love with the ribbing all the way down the instep. The pattern is "Simple Socks" from "Socks Soar on Two Circular Needles" by Cat Bordhi. The yarn is Regia Ringel in the color "Clown" (#5048). I used just over one skein, starting the second skein 1/4 of the way into the gusset. I'll buy one more skein and be able to get another pair out of them, with a longer ankle if I want. I think a pattern without so much ribbing, specifically purl stitches, would show off the fun quality of the yarn much better.

Felted Fuzzy Feet II: Electric Boogaloo

Well, I refelted them last night. But I didn't do them in the bath. I didn't have time, what with a sock to knit, American Idol, Lost, and Project Runway to watch. So I got a bucket out, put some dish soap in it, ran some hot water, and put the fuzzy feet on. I slowly dipped my right foot into the bucket...and quickly yanked it back out. That water was way too hot for my tootsies! So I threw the fuzzy feet into the bucket with some dishtowels and agitated. Ripple had fun trying to trap the stuff he could see moving all around from the outside of the bucket. I got them to felt a bit more, kept trying them on (with a plastic bag over my foot) and stopped once they felt sufficiently tighter. I squeezed out the excess water and wore them around for a bit (all the while wondering who let one rip - man does that stuff stink when it's wet!). I wore them around this morning too while I was getting ready. The stitches aren't as visible now, which pleases me. So the felted handbag I started last night (with some Cascade 220) should have a better shot at being felted correctly the first time. Oh, about the bag. I'm not sure what I'm going to do. I had started it at the knitting group at work last night, one of the ladies was going to teach us how to make one. When I discovered that the pattern was from a class she and several others had taken, I just didn't feel right. I may just throw out the photocopied pattern and find a totally different one I like that won't infringe on anyone's copyright. I had tried to subtly explain that it wasn't exactly kosher to be copying the pattern, but don't think I quite brought the point across. I think I'll just either do a Booga Bag or one from the Vogue book "Bags: A Knitter's Dozen" that I got for Christmas. I turned the heel in my second sock last night. If all goes well tonight, I'll be wearing my handmade socks tomorrow! I love them! I think it'll be a while before I make any for friends or family. I have plenty more to make for myself first!

I Felt Them Up

Yeah, you can still see the stitches a bit. But they fit the length of my feet perfectly. They are a bit loose around the instep and ankle though. I think I might try felting them to fit a bit better by wearing them in a nice hot bath. That way, the length won't change, but the rest can. The Fuzzy Feet were really fun to knit. And a great way to get me ready for socks. And yes, I finished the first one on Monday night, I'm nearly done the cuff of the second one, but no pics until I can model the pair! And yes, I have to model them because if I took a picture of the socks just laying there, you'd think "Um, those look a wee bit long" when in fact, they fit my size 9 feet perfectly. They just look funny when they aren't being worn. Oh and look over in the right sidebar please. See that "Where are you visiting from?" - that's a Frappr map. I've had it up for a little while now. And as far as it looks, I have no friends. Now, judging by the growing number of comments I'm getting (yay!) and from people I know happen to have Frappr accounts (a-hem) would it be so much to ask to reveal yourself on the Frappr map please? Pretty Please? With sugar on top?

It's all about the feet.

The Fuzzy Feet are felted and blocking as we speak! The felting didn't happen 100% but they did shrink down to the right size. I can still see some stitch definition though, not much, but it's there. Damn my tight knitting. I'm so glad I've learn how to do this: That's my first turned heel And where I am as of this morning I can only imagine the trouble I'd have trying to wrestle with tiny dpns. I'd probably knit those entirely too tight as well. I'm finding the 2 circs very comfortable to deal with now. Once I got used to handling them, and the size of the 2's and the sock yarn, it's gone swimmingly.

Zee Aibhlinn! She eez feeneeshed!

Finally! Here's my attempt at the self-timer to model the Aibhlinn. This was supposed to have been finished for last Wednesday, but I knew before I started it that it wouldn't be. My friend completely understands. The yarn is Plymouth Encore Colorspun. Isn't it pretty? I'll admit to being a wee bit impatient with this knit, forgive me, I started it on the 27th. I kept measuring and it never seemed to grow. So I gave it a good tug. Yup, I tugged the thing hither and yon and finally it grew! It's none the worse for wear, I promise. I just couldn't take it anymore. Next on the to-finish list is the Fuzzy Feet, which are nearly done.

Fuzzy Foot

I finished Fuzzy Foot #1 over the weekend, and silly me didn't bother checking gauge when I did it because I was using the recommended yarn and needle size. Well, it's a bit on the tight side, not too bad really, but I'm hoping it felts down to the correct size. I'm a size 9, thank God I have a sis with size 11 feet. If these don't work out. NoNoKitty also inspired me to give stitch marker making a try and I've churned out quite a few. No pics yet though, for various reasons, but you'll see them here and there in future WIP pics.

"B is for Butterfly"

Apparently we're already onto "B" for the ABC along. So, without further ado (though someone beat me to it) Butterflies from the Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden:

Startitus?

Surely I haven't come down with a case of startitus? Let's take a look at my current works. There'sAiblinn, Clapotis, the My So-Called Scarf, Reverse Bloom Flower Washcloth, and Fuzzy Feet. "What's that?" you say? "Fuzzy Feet? Since when did you start the Fuzzy Feet?" Um, last night at around 9:30pm. I'm already past the heel shaping on one. I really want to start knitting some socks but told myself that the fuzzy feet need to be done first since it'd be a good introduction to them. I had so much fun I was surprised I got as far as I did in just a couple hours. I won't have them done in time to felt them today when I do my weekly laundry trek to a friends house. Or will I? Hmm...

No No Kitty Yarns! Yay!

I ordered some roving from Daniel over at No No Kitty Yarns when she had her first sale for closing up shop back in December. I had asked her to wait until after the holidays to send it as I would be out of town and didn't want the package sitting outside for days. I e-mailed her earlier this week, checking in on the order, because it dawned on me that I didn't tell her when I'd be back. Turns out we both forgot, and she sent it out right away: You're probably thinking, "Roving? You just started knitting seriously just before Halloween, surely you don't know how to spin already?" And you'd be right. Nope, dunno how to spin. Do I want to try? Yeah, I do now. Will it be any time soon? Nope, probably not. Am I worried? Nope. I like to just look at this stuff and touch it and pet it, and yes, I shall call it George.

Heh, my Inner Daemon is a Monkey.

Come on, I've been good. I haven't done one of these for a little while. I got this from Amy over at the knitty blog.

What Animal Would Your Daemon Settle As?

Your MONKEY DAEMON represents a nature that is admired, detail-oriented, and full of curiosity. Some people might call you self-absorbed. You like to plan ahead, and hone your various talents to perfection.
Take this quiz!

Quizilla | Join | Make A Quiz | More Quizzes | Grab Code

I couldn't resist.

After all my talking about practicing the My So-Called Scarf pattern, I went and did it. I cast on. The yarn is Lion Brand Landscapes and I have 2 balls of it. I just love how it's looking in this stitch pattern!

"A is for Aloe"

I joined an ABC along on the Knitty Coffeeshop boards and unofficially submitted my wonderful shot of the Aihblinn for A, but took proper ones last night. So here's my official entry:

The Cursed Clapotis

Well, I dropped my first stitch last night and promptly fucked up. Those instructions right after dropping the stitch..."pick up bar making sure not to twist the stitch and knit this and the following stitch through the back loops"...I did not take to mean to knit them together as a decrease. So, when I got to the next knit row and realized my mistake, I decided to tink back to the purl side of the fuck-up, and p2tog, slip the stitch back to the left needle and p2tog again. It looks ok. Oh well. At least when I finally do the clapotis for myself I'll be able to avoid all the pitfalls I've had with this one. The Stitch n Bitch last night was so much fun. There were only 4 of us, but these ladies are so much fun to chat with, it wouldn't matter if there were 2 or 20. The other three were smart and brought simpler projects that you could chat and knit with. Me, I take the Aibhlinn and Clapotis. I shoulda worked on the Aihblinn the whole time. I can do that without too much thought. But I really wanted to get through that first straight row of the Clapotis. Silly me. You live, you learn. When I got home, I decided to practice a stitch on my ever-growing swatch scarf. I don't know if it will ever be an actual, wearable, scarf - but it's serving a purpose nonetheless. The first swatch on it is the cable pattern from the Irish Hiking Scarf, then a couple rows of some pretty wonky looking herringbone design from a recent publication. Can't recall right now, but it did NOT go well. So last night I tried out the stitch pattern from My So-Called Scarf which some people actually refer to as a herringbone stitch. Lemme tell ya, this went much better and looks a helluva lot better than the stitch I was trying to do before. They really don't look anything alike though. I'm wondering what kind of crack the designer was smoking when they designed it. Heh, I just now went to the tkga site to see if I could find a pic of the pattern, then I see there's errata for that particular pattern. No wonder it was a bitch and looked like crap. But anywho, I'm thrilled with the way the "My So-Called Scarf" pattern is turning out. I was intimidated when I first read the instructions a couple months ago, but I get it now. I just need to go buy some great yarn to make this with for my sister. Something light I think. She's in Arizona and it does get cool at night there during the winter, so she'll wear it. But I don't want anything too heavy. And she wants light pink. And black. Anyone know of any black flecked light pink yarn out there?

Miracles, they still happen.

I love my cats. I do. But they piss me off every time I catch them being all cute and loving to each other because they don't keep it up long enough for me to get a picture of it. Do you think I can ever get a pic of them cleaning each other? No. As soon as I lean forward to grab the camera (yeah, it's always nearby) they move. But Saturday night, I caught them. And I was even sitting on the futon to the left of them when I caught it. I was even able to run upstairs, grab the camera (I had left it there after unloading the last set of pics to it) and get all the way back down the stairs to start snapping. Do you believe it? I didn't. I got that one right away. They looked at me with absolutely no interest. I got closer. Aww. You see, that spot used to belong to Morris. (The grumpy old man in the back - doesn't he look like Walter Matthau?) Then Ripple, the bratty cat in the front, decided it was pretty comfy. Morris just let him take it, and would either sleep on the back of the couch or on the floor. I just hated that for him. Mo-Mo is like, 15 years old. Ripple is 6. Ripple can handle the floor. Heck, there's a nice big spot on the futon next to me that he can have. In fact, that's where he was sleeping before he appropriated Mo's spot. But every now and again, they share. And I caught 'em! In other news, thought I'd post some pics of my WIPs. Here's the Aihblinn: I just joined the 2nd ball of yarn. I'm a bit worried that it might now start to pool a bit. I didn't think to join it at the same point in variegation as I left off. I'm a fan of the russian join, it's saves me ends to weave in later. But I really should have matched it up better. Damn. I've only done one row since joining, so I may yet do that if it doesn't start to vary more. But it's pretty. And here's the beginnings of my Clapotis: I think I'm about ready for section 3 where I can have all sorts of fun dropping stitches. I might just do a couple more increase sections first though. At least one anyway. It is supposed to be a shawl. Eventually. I also started the reverse bloom washcloth from Weekend Knitting in Crystal Palace Cotton Chenille. I'm doing it in a pretty lavendar color for my mother's birthday in February. I have 3 petals done. I haven't decided what I'll be working on at my Stitch n Bitch tonight, but more than likely, a bit of each.

Yarn Pr0n part deux

OK, this is the real stuff here. Zibibbo put a call out to all and sundry for some good yarn pr0n, so here's my attempt. Being cold out and no where nice outside to take pics, I went for the scanner instead. And wow. Check this out. (Click on the pic in the flickr badge for more information on the yarn).

I'm regressing

So, I've been doing nothing but improving my knitting as the days go by. Then I started the Clapotis. First, I forget what a SSK is, think I skipped ahead a row, tinked back only to realize I'm just an idiot. Then, I mess up the twisted stitches because of the tinking. THEN, last night I picked it up again to start another increase section only to start knitting on the purl side and purl on the knit side. Had to tink back 2 rows. I finally managed to finish one more increase section but good gourd! What the hell am I doing? On another note - if you look to the left you'll see I've updated my links. If I stalk read your blog, it's there. I used to have a button of my own on my blog, but since no one ever "took" it, I removed it. I'm pondering creating a new one...

Ugliest Avatar...

The ladies over at JenLa tagged their readers with this funny little "Create the ugliest avatar" contest so, here's my entry:

I did it..

I cast on for Clapotis finally. I'm making this first one for a friend's mother's 90 B-Day. Her birthday isn't until St. Patrick's day, but he went and told her my plans and she's already wondering where her shawl is (thinking it was for Christmas) so I'm starting it now. I totally screwed the pooch on the second increase round, forgetting how to SSK and thinking I was a stitch short. I tinked back and then realized I was fine and just an idiot, so when I reknit the row, I ended up (I think) double twisting the twisted stitches. Hope it all works out fine. I'm using Red Heart Soft Baby yarn in the color "New Mint" (As seen in link). I probably should be using it doubled, but hey, if I don't like the way it looks when I drop that first stitch, I'll go ahead and frog it and start over. I'll probably make it better the second time starting it anyway. I've stalled on Aibhinn. Dunno why, I guess it's because it's so many stitches in a round and K3P3 the whole way, it's just slow to me. I am trying to get an hour in on it nightly, but my left pinky finger starts hurting from holding the knitting. I have no idea why, I knit english style so my left pinky's only role is to loosely hold onto the left end of the needle. And it's on circs so - why? Sheesh. I have a footbath, maybe I need a handbath now too. The yarn is so beautiful knit up though. It's Plymouth Encore Colorspun (color as shown in pic). I normally wouldn't spring for this kind of yarn, but I went ahead with it. She's one of my best friends and deserves it. I know, I know, you're thinking "It's not that expensive!" But, yeah, it is - for me. But I like supporting my LYS and when I want to make small projects, with yarn that is partly wool or 100% - I'll go for it. But I have to back off for a while, I need to move again (stupid apt. complex jacking the rent) and have to start purging some stuff and saving up money. I hate moving. Anyway... In other boring knitting news, I finished yet another dishcloth. That makes 4. This one is for a friend. I started it on New Years day at a party - just in case I got the non-smoking jitters. I ended up meeting anther knitter there and teaching her how to purl! I gave her my dishcloth pattern as well, since I have it memorized. She was intimidated at first, but I convinced her it was really easy, just follow the pattern and you'll see!

Holey Voodoo, Batman!

I finished my Voodoo wristwarmers just in time for work tomorrow! This will be the perfect opportunity to poke fun at my boss for how friggin' cold he keeps the office. Don't think I won't bust these out in July either! I have to run my heater year round because it's so cold. I love these! I do plan on making the fingerless gloves from Weekend Knitting as well. I want to have some fitted fingerholes. I was going to try that with these, but I'm not ready to tweak a pattern quite that much yet. But I'm very happy with these fuzzy ones. This is the Holey Moley Scarf from Creative Knitting Magazine (January '06) I made for my pet sitter as a thank you. I was so close to finishing it in time to give it to her along with payment for watching the kitties. Oh well, I washed it and blocked it and got all the fringe done. I'm not terribly impressed with the pattern, I do find that it puckers the scarf a bit. If there were an additional row of knitting in between the cast off and cast on rows for the holes, I don't think it would pucker as much, but I'm not sure how you'd accomplish that. You'd have to do two extra rows and turn your work for each little section - total pain in the ass. But the finished object is cute.