I always hated playing tag

Especially when I'm it. Rain finally tagged me. Called me out on my avoidance techniques. I knew she'd been tagged on a few things lately, so I'll admit it, I avoided her blog for a bit, hopeing against hope I could play the "I didn't see it" card. Well, I saw it. So, here it is. My knitting bag. Y'all have met Agent Bagsmith before. But what's in him nowadays? Here he is at homebase. My dining room table that I bought at Fred's for all of $79. I love Fred's. I paid more for my swift and ball winder than I did for my table. Heh. Priorities. So, in the bottom pocket, we have my reference pamphlets (which I have yet to actually use) measuring tapes (3!), bobbins and dental floss for lifelines. In the top pocket we have my Chibi collection (save the whales! Collect them all!) and my stitch markers. Of course, that's not all my stitch markers. Oh, no. This is the best thing I never got around to throwing away. Thank God a caboodle product finally serves a useful purpose to me other than floor decoration under my bed. This was marketed as an earring holder. No no. I have a better use for it. In one side, my coilless safety pins and larger stitch markers: In the other side, small stitch markers and point protectors So, what all is crammed inside you ask? Well, we have the Best Foot Forward socks both in progress and on holders. Pattern book as well. The in progress one is my purse knitting during the week. The Fortissima 1776 socks, needles awaiting stitches for the second. In the inner pockets we have Hand lotion, chapstick, a portable pen, clover wheel, and scrap yarn. Oh, more stitch markers. These from NoNoKitty. And lingering on the bottom, always, my Knitter's Companion. Tucked into the inner pockets we have my pens and crochet hooks Scissors, ruler Needles - I keep my dishcloth sized needles in here all the time (6s - 9s) and those big ones, I have no idea what they're doing in there. I put those back where they belong after this photo was taken. I put those addis back where they belong too: Which lives on the bottom shelf of my primary backup station. The office bookshelf. Needles on top of the shelf. The yarn closet. Where my project bags (empty) hang out, and also my sock yarn, miscellaneous yarns and beading materials linger. And there you have it. But wait, I know you saw something in the first picture that probably peaked your curiosity. I restarted Clapotis. AmyKnitty actually commented on my blog the other day(!) and suggested that the Blue Heron Rayon/Metallic would make a beautiful Clap. She was so right. So now I must tag 3 people and tell them to go take some pics. So, ok then. Of you go Zonda, Bezzie and Pyewacket!

Ribbing? I don't need no Stinkin' Ribbing!

Don't get me wrong, the original pattern is fabulous, but me being the adventurous Leo that I am, had to go and change it up. Yesterday I left you in suspense as to what my changes would be to the bottom. In a marathon knitting session, I managed to finish the bottom off last night, then woke up early this morning to finish off the ribbing on the sleeves. I was 10 minutes late for work. It was worth it. (No, I'm not sprouting wings, stupid bra) Yarn: Cotton Fleece in "Nymph" about 2 1/2 Skeins Size: The 36" Mods: Ok, so I added in some waist shaping about 3 inches after the patterned shaping. 3 repeats of K1FB before and after the arm markers and 2 rounds plain stockinette between each. Then 3 inches before where I wanted it to end, I started the lace pattern again. The first 2 times I repeated the first round of lace, I did do the increases. If I could rewind time, I wouldn't do this, it didn't really need it, but it's all good. I repeated the lace pattern 6 times as for the top. Me likee.

Body Shots!

Ok y'all, quit drooling. The yummy yarn will be back tomorrow. For now, a half naked torso is yours for the leering. This is the current state of my Green Gable. I am so happy with the fit. Pardon the boobage, the bra adds a little something extra to that area, it won't be the one I normally wear with it. But for posterity, I wanted to show you how it looked before I modified the pattern. Pardon the poor quality. I can take pics of yarn like a mofo, but of myself in the mirror? Um, not so easy. I can't hold my arm still long enough. You'll see what lies in store for the bottom. Hopefully I'll finish it tonight!

Umm....Oops?

That's some Blue Heron Rayon/Metallic in the "Tulip" colorway that I picked up last night. I blame Jeanmarie. She asked me to meet up with her at a yarn shop fer chrissakes! What do you want from me? Restraint? I'd like to take this moment to assure my SP that there are plenty of nooks and crannies available in my condo for more yarn storage. And if yarn is something you really don't think I need, think of the bare spindle I bought a few weeks back. Or this yarn! Yeah, think of this yarn! This is the second 550 yard skein of Blue Heron Rayon/Metallic I've bought. How could I resist? So a pattern! A shawl I think! Yeah, that's the ticket! I swear, I'm trying to be good. No SP should have to compete with an impulse shopper such as myself. No no - you deserve SP! I'll try to be good!

Spindle-rella

As promised, more pr0n: Some soft, 100% Wool laceweight (I'm guessing). I got some in blue as well (below). I could make 10 trillion lace shawls out of this if I wanted and still have some left. This is one of the spindles my friend May chose: Isn't it yummy? So soft! This didn't make it home with me, but I love the pic. This is some socky cottony stuff. Stephy came over the other night and I reeled her off a couple of good sized cakes of it. We had to put it on a broom stick and hold it horizontally to get it to spin well, but it worked!

I'm a Yarn Ho, and Proud of it!

I know, y'all have seen the purchases I've made over the past month or so, and it's troubling. I've bought a lot of yarn. A lot. Granted, much of it has come from the store closing, and now this spindle sale, but still. I'm scared to update the spreadsheet I did back on flash stash. But I have also destashed a bit of the less desireable stuff. I met a neighbour this weekend that knits hats for poor children (her words) so I donated some onesy balls of Wool-ease to her. Then there was the bag of yarn I gave to the new knitter in my knitting group (funny, I haven't seen her since). So I am taking steps. And I'm using it! And more importantly, I'm photographing it. Behold: A cone of unlabeled yarn. I suspect it to have a significant portion of cotton in it. I love the view of the yarn cone in this pic. This stuff is a rayon blend. It's so fun looking! Dunno what I'm going to do with it, but I have like, 4 pounds of the stuff. This is called "Lemon Cake" isn't it pretty? More later in the week. In the meantime, I worked on the Adamas Shawl yesterday. Wanna see the progress I made? Yeah. I had to rip it out. I sat ever so patiently, reading the chart, knitting along, and got to the last pattern rown of the first repeat of the body chart, and I was missing a stitch. Try as I might, I couldn't find it. Then I saw it. Below the lifeline. A dropped stitch. I nearly cried. I can't bear to start it over yet. I wanted it so badly in time for my 30th Birthday in August. A present for myself to wear to my sister's wedding. And I failed. I can't do it over yet. I will. Maybe in time for my 31st. But I will not give up on lace yet. I'm going to try either Branching out, or Cozy. I need to aquaint myself with reading a chart and not losing my place between the repeats. So, my friends, what do you think? Cozy or Branching Out? Cozy, I can try to finish for my birthday as well. And I'm told it is a good beginner pattern. Branching Out is a pattern I hear recommended over and over again as a good first lace pattern. So, help me decide.

Which Lace Project Should I Do? Cozy Branching Out Click above to vote

Holly Bee Yarn Sale!

All I can say is "Wow." It was overwhelming. I mean - just look: Rows of boxes full of spindles of yarn. The spindles were anywhere from $1 each to $5. I won't count the one box of rayon spindles going for $15 each. Actually, there were two boxes of smaller spindles going for 4/$1! And lots of that was sock yarn! There was much fun to be had: That's my friend Jeanmarie. We had fun as you see. Look at the "shopping carts" we had: I filled mine full, but in my defense I was shopping for 3 people! May only picked out two of the spindles I bought, and I got 3 spindles of white yarn for Remi at Charlotte yarn to have fun learning how to dye with. She'll get plenty of practice with it I'm sure. Oh, I have a bunch of pictures of the yarn I got, but I'll save those for more posts this week. For a complete look, check out the set. I've added a new bit to the sidebar for it. I can't put javascript in a post I guess.

Yarn Pr0n Friday IV

It's that time of the week again on the old bloggy thing. So what have I been working with lately? Knit Picks Dancing in the "Swing" colorway. And what have I been making with it? See over in the sidebar there, the "Best Foot Forward Socks" - formerly known as "2 on 2 socks". I ditched that idea when I became frustrated with how long it was taking. So I took one off, and this is where I'm at as of this morning: Interesting, you say? What does the pattern look like, you ask? Mini cables. I really like the way they're looking. It's a shame that the yarn competes with it. I will find an appropriate pattern for the rest of my Dancing collection, but I still like how this is looking. I'm nearly to the heel flap. This cuff is a bit longer than what I've done previously, it needs to be 7 1/2" long before I turn the heel. And after changing needles, it does hug the curve of the calf quite nicely. "But, Cristi, haven't you been working on the Green Gable?" Why yes, yes I have. I finally got to the point where I could try it on, and I'm very happy with the fit so far. But I'm not going to post one of those pics with me wearing half a shirt. Sorry, y'all. It ain't gonna happen. Not even if you looked at me like that.