So much to do.

Perhaps now that I don't have schoolwork to do, and likely won't until at -least- Fall 08 and perhaps even Spring 09, I can get more knitting done. I have so many projects I want to do, as is evidenced by my Ravelry Queue and my list of stuff On Deck.


There has been much knitting however. I'm still working on my second Wicked-themed dishcloth .. I'm about a pattern repeat from finishing that one. But I have other dishcloths finished too; more of my ecospun and cotton ones.


Details on Ravelry

There is also the sweater I do intend to finish at some point. I'd like to maybe have it done by SAFF this year, but I'm not making any promises. I bought the yarn two years ago, started a sweater and got halfway through before I hated the design and the pattern and ripped it out, so .. we'll see. I have swatched though.


Details on Ravelry

I'm still plugging away on my Gluttony socks. A good thing too, because the new Seven Deadly S(p)ins project is on its way to us. I was -hoping- it'd arrive today, but they likely did not get shipped until yesterday, and I don't think Ellen shipped them overnight. Sigh.


Details on Ravelry

*yawn*

I'm -so- tired. And, why yes, it is 5:00am. And yes, I've been up already for hours, tossing, turning and flopping in the bed. And disturbing Isis. (Jason sleeps through anything, luckily!) Who granted was a sweet kitty and tried grooming me to help me get to sleep. It didn't work. I finally just roused myself, and came down to discover that the thing that had been on my mind all night was true, and I found my blue pattern/color-card binder. Yeah. I think that's what kept me up all night. Whee.

That and dreading going to Weight Watcher's this morning. And now I want to go even less, because all I want to do is friggen sleep. I'm annoyed now, growly and grumpy and not in the mood to deal with the yuppy moms at the meeting, and certainly not in the mood to deal with the too-cheerful new leader, Lucie. Who is Canadian. And I like her, normally. She knits, in fact. But today .. right now .. I don't want to deal.

Random knitting sidenote: I started my very first Mason Dixon Ballband washcloth, and I'm as hooked as everyone else. This knits so fast! I'm going to take ti back to bed with me as I wait for Jason to wake up so I can tell him I'm not going to the meeting because I need to friggen sleep. Oh yeah, and who else loves the fact that Knit Picks now lets you pay 70-cents less and download their patterns, rather than buying them and having to wait for the pattern?

In other non-knitting news, because I've no desire to try to post coherently about my knitting at this ungodly hour, we have not one but two delightful outings planned this week. First, Sunday we're going to see a production of Rent in Charlotte. Jason and I saw the show on Broadway and I loved it, so when I saw it was coming here I had to get tickets. And then on Tuesday we're going to a weaving class at the LYS we love to shop at, creatively named The Yarn Shop, by Rainy Day Creations. That's the whole name, yes. But the ladies are very sweet, and Jason got us all a lesson and we're going Tuesday. I'm so thrilled! I think the class includes rental of a loom too, which will be interesting. I may not get much knitting done!

One more side note: About the picture in the previous post; it's not snow, nor is it from the wintertime. I took that picture on our trip up the Blue Ridge Parkway last OCtober. The reason the trees are covered in ice is because of what's called a hoar frist, where moisture in the air/fog/clouds freezes on contact with the trees/grass/ground. Cool, isn't it?

I'm going back to bed now, aided by a little blue pill. (Tylenol Sleep - no painkiller, just sleep-aid. My hero!)

Proud of myself .. and 'You're the knitting girl, right?'

During a few errands, my copilot .. and the person I taught to knit ... wanted to stop at the yarn shop closest to us. We don't whop there usually, as her prices aren't phenomenal .. but he needed something to finish a scarf he made for his cousin.

So we stopped in.

And despite finding several rack on 40%-off sale, I did not by a single hank, skein or ball of yarn. Not even when I saw the mohair I already have one ball of was in the sale bins. And I really could use a few more balls. But no, I was strong. I resisted temptation. And I bought only the ball he needed .. which of course is really -him- buying the yarn. I just pay for it for now and he pays me back.

---

This was all -after- we went to lunch with hubby at Ruby Tuesday's. We chose to sit in the bar area, as it was empty, and we hate sitting near people. Humanity, in general, annoys us. And, like always, B and I had out knitting with us .. well, he did. I thought I did, but had left the current cloth in the car because I was knitting it waiting for J to get out of work, and didn't get it put back in my take-along bag.

So the waitress comes up to us, asks what we'd like to drink, then pauses and looks at me and says 'You're the knitting girl, right?' I am now know as The Knitting Girl. And I think I kinda like that.

I had a new dishcloth finished, a pattern I made up based on the bamboo stitch, but B's mother absconded with the cloth because she liked it so much. I'll make another one soon and show it off .. I really liked the colors in the yarn I made it from.

I do have this one though, made in the bamboo stitch. It's not as pretty, but it shows off the stitch. The one I made that I no longer have posession of (that'll teach me not to take pictures immediately) is a variation of this stitch.

Dishcloths Done!

Well, at least the ones for my neice Brittany are done. Now I'm working on using up more of my cotton stash to make more ..probably will keep some, and give some away. I love the two I already have though, so .. we'll see.

1. Top Left: Lily Sugar & Cream, Key Lime Pie, Pattern: Heart Squares.;2. Top Middle: Lily Sugar & Cream, Orange Creamsicle, Pattern: Basketweave;3. Top Right: Lily Sugar & Cream, Key Lime Pie, Pattern: Bramble;4. Bottom Left: Lily Sugar & Cream, Key Lime Pie, Pattern: Raspberries;5. Bottom Right: Lily Sugar & Cream, Orange Creamsicle, Pattern: Bramble

1. Top Left: Detail of Bramble stitch.;2. Top Right: Closeup of Basketweave and Bramble cloths.;3. Bottom Left: Closeup of Heart Squares cloth.;4.Bottom Right: Closeup of Raspberries cloth.

1. Left: Closeup of Bramble in Orange Creamsicle, showing (sort-of) my pattern mishap.;2. Middle: Detail showing bind-off mishap.;3. Right: Whole cloth, showing the odd edge from my pattern mishap.

As you can perhaps see, I had a little issue with this cloth. Somewhere around my 5th repetition of the pattern, I purled twice, and it flip-flopped the pattern. I flopped it back after 4 repetitions to get back on track. Also, I didn't have -quite- enough orange to finish the cast-off, so I had to use a little bit of the green. Not a huge deal really .. just goes to show I suck at that whole estimating yardage thing. Also, I should have checked Yarn Harlot's recent post detailing a crocheted cast-off.

Now, I get to make cloths using up my stash. I've already started, in fact. I'm making one in a red-pink colorway of the Sugar and Cream (Which I just love to knit with!), using a Bamboo pattern. It's coming out nice, too. I may also get around to frogging the massively huge afghan block and start working on a tesselating fish afghan instead. It's just acrylic, Caron Simply Soft .. so I should be able to fly through it. Making squares is just too dull for me to work on at all.

My progress thus far on dishcloth #2, using Bramble Stitch. The scanner really doesn't do this one justice .. the texture really doesn't come through.

Another one!

This is the first of Brittany's dishcloths. The hearts pattern doesn't quite work as well for this yarn though .. I think it's probably the variegatedness of it.


Yarn: Lily Sugar 'n Cream in Key Lime Pie
Needles: US 9 Aluminum straights
Pattern: Heart Squares, from The Knitter's Bible