Project Updates and Stash Enhancement

Some of the yarn I got for Christmas. This is alpaca sock yarn. How yum is that!?!

Knitpick Essential (soon to not be named Essential anymore so now it's a collector's item!) that Jason got me for Christmas. I looove the color. I think it's destined to be Monkey's.




The four above are all Manos del Uraguay The bright teal and the orangey one are their bulky wool, and the wine and the grey tones ones are the wool/silk blend. All four are sooo delicious to touch. Got these at a huge discount in Brevard at Charlotte's Fibers for her pre-Superbowl sale.


Also purchased at Charlotte's Fibers at the same sale, these are both JoJoLand Melody, and will made wonderful socks that do not have to match. Hooray!

Marie has made several of these really awesome ribbed vests that while they seem like endless knitting would be awesome for keeping warm. So I bought this Fibranatura Mermaid in a luscious red color to make one for me.

This seemingly tangled mess is destined to be a Colinette Absolutely Fabulous Throw, when I get the nerve to wind all that yarn and get started with miles of feather and fan.


The above are the fourth and fifth installments of the Seven Deadly S(p)ins club, Pride and Greed. Both of these I plan to finish, though at the rate I knit, who knows when I'll get to them.

My Malabrigo hat. I love the colors .. I think I could have made the hat a little bigger, though. but the thought of ripping out to make it bigger is so daunting. I know I should but .. ugh!

There actually has been a great deal of progress on the Wrapigan. I'm to the second armhole now .. just started the second ball of the yummy alpaca I'm using, and though I'm dreading binding off and casting on all those stitches, because then it's just another mile of stockinette before I can bind off and be done, it'll be so worth it to have this to throw on when I'm chilled.

One thing I'm sad about is that the end of the shaping part meas the end of using my cute little bee stitch marker. Jason got me these for Christmas. Six bees, plus a single rose. So cute!

This is a project I started just to use up some stash. It's Brooks Farm Duet in a deep foresty-green. I'm making one of those really simple triangle shawls .. for as long as the yarn will hold out. I have no idea if I have enough to make this any substantial size, but we'll see. If not .. well, I can always frog and try something else.

The sixth installment of the Seven Deadly S(p)ins club was Envy .. not Lust as I suspected it might be with Valentine's Day coming up. It's beautiful, though. Handwarmers. I can't wait to get these started!

I made this to be the cover for a rice-bag I haven't yet made. It'll be perfect for my stiff and sore neck though.

I have recently spent a lot of time photographing and adding stash and projects to my Ravelry. There was a ton that I hadn't entered .. there likely still is a bunch I need to deal with .. the cotton, for example, I just dread doing because I have a ton of 1s and 2s of things, and that's just a lot of photos to take. I'll get it done. plus there's stuff I still need to enter .. random stuff I've picked up in swaps, etc. pretty stuff, but I just need to account for it. I try to keep myself accountable for the yarn I have.

Some of the prettier stuff I'm showing off here, mainly because I can.







I've been working on a lot of things .. handwarmers, hats for charity (once I can find the needles I need), still slogging away at the wrapigan. The sweater's on hold, mostly because I've been working on other things. Marie taught me how to weave my ends in as I knit, and how to do the Turkish Cast On, which is the coolest thing ever, so I might be cranking out some holiday gifts here soon.

Bad, bad blogger.

I'm a bad blogger. I know I am. I've just had a lot going on, and most of the people that even care about my knitting actually see it weekly .. twice, some of them. but I need to get back into the routine of blogging. It's something I really enjoyed doing, after all.

So .. what have I done? Well, there's a surprise gift for a certain James, that I really need to get around to mailing .. and let me just randomly say that I love the spellchecker feature of the new Firefox version. It knows when I meant to capitalize something. I'm working on a sweater now .. that I've had to rip back more times than I care to think about, and it's still not gonna be perfect but dernit I'm not ripping back that far again. I've started a wrap with sleeves designed by Stitch Poet .. the Wrapigan .. and I'm loving it and the pure alpaca it's being knit it. just a loose enough gauge to be a little loose and luscious, but when it's worn and washed and blocked that yarn will bloom into fluffy yumminess, and I look forward to that.

Hmm. What else. Oh! I learned to crochet. Like really and truly learned, and even made something with my skillz! I was hating my hair one evening and crocheted a quick headband to keep my annoying flyaways from tickling my face. Go me! And all thanks to MissMe .. who never updates her blog but I forgive her because she's always so busy.

There's also a mystery project that I can't safely talk about because its recipient might actually read this, so I'll just have to say that it's coming along .. slowly but surely it's coming along. If I knit more than I played World of Warcraft it might be further along .. but that's my stress relief, for now.

SAFF is coming up fast. We need to get our hotel soon, because we're planning on making a weekend out of it. I know that with money tight I can't buy much .. and to be honest I don't need to buy much becuase I already have so much yarn. but I do want to pick up some stuff from The Unique Sheep, from Miss Babs, and from Brooks Farm. Other than that, I intend to just look and drool, and to find Annette at the booth for the Skein and Garment Competition and sit there and knit a while, so I won't be tempted to buy everything I see. I have a very large stash, honestly, and I don't need to go spending money I don't really have.

Speaking of Annette, she's going to have a baby! Which means I have a baby to knit for! Yay! Despite Marie attempting her baby juju on me, Jason and I have no desire for a family now, so the only baby knitting I get to do is either for charity, or for someone else's baby, so the fact that Annette is having a baby is a delight. And not only because it gives me someone to knit for .. more especially because she really wants a child and now is going to get that wish.

Not Exactly Knitting but ..

.. I'm getting a new computer! Two, actually! I posted about it in my boring blog.

I really need to get started on my Sea Urchin top. But yesterday was busy busy, what with errands and such. I'm hoping that I'll be able to cast on today, and at least get through one pattern repeat. I've yet to see how the increasing for this thing is going to be handled. For the sleeves, at least. I can kinda guess how they work it for the top front and back.

Jason has used the 'no more yarn' words. I think because he's the one that buys most of it for me, but he has seen how big The Stash is getting. Even something that used to be small, such as The Sock Stash, is growing. And we have even more yarn coming, probably today if it's not already in the mailbox.

Yummy

First of all, I have all but finished the Peacock bag I was working on. I just need to figure out just what I'm going to do about handles. I might just make the ones the pattern calls for .. but I also kinda wanna create a drawstring to close it, so I dunno.

Let me tell you .. seed stitch in the round? Easy peasy. but oh my gods did I mess it up about a billion times. At least I never got but a few stitches before I'd realize, and tink back.

This picture doesn't show the stitch definition as well, and is closer to the actual colors, at least on my monitor. I have just loved knitting with this ribbon, and have a skein left .. before making the handles at least. I'll probably still have a skein, or most of one, once I do the handles. Could have made the bag longer but .. why?

Details, as always, on Ravelry.

I also have done a little stash enhancing. We went to the Yarn Shop in Pineville ... I think I went in looking for needles, and Jason wanted something to make a cute dishcloth he found. Well, as usual, there was something I just couldn't pass up. This time it was three somethings.

I have wanted to try the corn-fiber yarn for as long as I've known about it, and they had a bunch of it on clearance. Now, I know that means it didn't sell well and all. But c'mon. It's corn fiber. That's cool! So I bought this little grab bag which also has a funky ribbon yarn in it along with two balls of the variegated purple. Jason and I were talking as we picked up our lunch, and decided to go back to see if they had anymore. And we got there in the nick of time! THey were just closing. In fact, Hattie had already closed the register down. But they let me pick out all the A-maize-ing and put it aside for me. I went and picked it up yesterday. Quite a bit of yarn, let me tell you. but I think I'm going to use it to make bags similar to the Peacock, only smaller.

I love Araucania's yarns. I dunno what it is about them .. and I haven't actually knitted up any that I have. But I love them just the same. So when I saw this little beauty in with the cottons, I had to have it. I'm probably going to use it to make something for the 'Wrath' project from Seven Deadly S(p)ins, since the projects we were sent aren't exactly Wrath-ful. Not that I mind. I absolutely love the project we were shipped, and really need to get started on it.

It's got this almost-boucle texture though, so I don't think I can make the Sheepie cloth with it. The soap sack though, for certain.

Last but certainly not least is this cotton. It is Araucania's Nature Cotton, and it is heavenly. Very very splitty, sad to say, and Jason's ball, which is much darker colors, gave us fits trying to wind it out of the skein. But it's lovely and soft and I almost want to never use it. Almost. I think it's going to make a beautiful dishcloth. Probably a washcloth, actually. I can't see using something this soft and luscious on my grubby dishes.

SAFF 2007 Pictures

SAFF 2007

This year we went with the intention of only doing shopping; there were no classes we really -had- to take, and because of work and such, we couldn't stay but for one day. So Jason, Brandon and I headed out early Saturday morning, cash in pockets with the decisions made that we would only spend what cash we had.

It was, as it had been last year, quite overwhelming. My first stop, of course, was Brooks Farm Yarns, where I purchased a couple of hanks of simply gorgeous 100% mohair. I eyed some of their other stuff, but wasn't really there for wool, and I'm still working on my sweater so didn't need to buy yarn for another.

I then headed up to another of the vendors I liked last year, Yarnsmiths, and found that they had branched out into sock yarns .. specifically specialty ones. I picked up three different types, two of which had a good bit of Cashmere in them, one of which that was mostly silk and some nylon, which should make some lovely socks. Then I stopped at the booth of the woman who we took a couple classes with last year, Melanie Koenig, and I picked up a couple of pairs of birch DPNs and also, after being convinced that I should try out the Denise interchangeables - which she had me do then and there, handing me some yarn and letting me walk off with them - I purchased the pink Denise set. Later on at other booths I found the larger cables for the pink Denise's, so now I'm all set with those, and also got some Lantern Moon ebony DPNs, and the Knit Cards set I've been eyeing for a while... just to have them.

The only other yarn I got was some angora, which I'm going to, along with the angora I bought last year from the same people, make some hand-warmers out of; and some alpaca, one skein from a pinto and it's been spun and plied so that it'll stripe perfectly, and a couple of skeins of some beautiful cream-colored Suri alpaca, from New Era Fiber, I'm probably going to make into a lace shawl.

The really -big- purchase of the day though was Jason's. He went ahead and purchased himself a Kromsky rigid heddle harp loom. It's a big purchase, but it's a beautiful loom, a lot nicer than the Ashfords, aesthetically, and since he already has a Kromsky wheel, it was only fitting. I'm a little frustrated, because the stand was the wrong size, so we'll have to send it back and get a replacement. But I'm sure that won't be a problem. It looks like it came from the manufacturer that way, so we may have to go to them directly .. dunno though. He also got enough gorgeous alpaca to make me a pretty beautiful shawl, once he feels confident with the loom and stuff, so I'm pretty excited about that.

Not a Knitter

That is what my husband says .. he's not a knitter. Oh, he knows how to knit and all .. but he's not a knitter. But this is what my 'not a knitter' husband knit lastnight. Double-stranded Tahki New Tweed in colors 14 (black with purple and orange flecks) and 27 (purple/black multi with orange flecks).



And .. why yes, that -is- an advance copy of Open Season. A perk for working for the movie studios is occasionally they send us goodies. :)

In my own knitting news, I have completed my first Red Scarf. I so want to keep it for myself, as despite being acrylic it is snuggly and soft and warm, and longer than I am tall! I used a modification of the Irish Hiking Scarf pattern, with only two cables instead of three because I wanted it to be nice and long and had limited yarn to work with. I think it looks lovely, don't you?




I'm now working on Red Scarf #2, which I will hopefully finish before January 25th so I can mail them off. I'm making this one out of Yarn Bee Italia - one of the many store-brand novelty yarns at Hobby Lobby, but admittedly one of my favorites. I'm using a pattern I found in a recent Knitter's magazine, one that makes it look almost like it's actually crocheted. It uses p4tog though, which is much more difficult than it needs to be. I'm managing though.





In that last photo .. you see the little skinny sticks, with butterflies on the end? Those are size 0000 needles. I need said needles for the bracelet kit my beloved got me for christmas. Yes, they are as tiny as they look, but I'm oddly excited to be knitting on them. :)

Yikes!

I figured out how much yarn I have, not including the three bags with 'Wild Stuff' makings that I got for Christmas from Jason. I have 32,031 yards of yarn. 18.2 miles. 96093 feet. 1,117,152 inches. 145.6 furlongs. 9.49 parsecs.

Ouch.

Boughs of haul-y

Ahh, that's right, time for the requisite 'what I got for Christmas' post. Since it's still spread throught the house, it won't be too terribly tough I imagine.

So, without further ado:

• Kitchen stuff: a deep fryer, a mini cuisinart, a fondue fountain and a set of stoneware mixing bowls.
• Halloween stuff (It's my favorite holiday after all!): A silk scarf, a Limoges with's hat, a candle snuffer and a candle holder.
• Other non-knitting stuff: a quilted tree skirt, snowflake earrings, my 2007 Witch's calendar, a pirate devil rubber duckie, the new Loreena McKennit cd (awesome, btw!) and candy in my stocking.

The knitting stuff, which is numerous, includes:

• A box of pale blue Llama/Wool yarn and the pattern to make myself a coat - Yes, I'm actually going to take on such a large project, once I'm closer to done with my sweater.
• 13 balls of dark blue BabyAlpaca/Silk yarn and the pattern to make myself this top. - Not to be started until I'm finished my current sweater.
• 3 balls of pale cream BabyAlpaca/Silk yarn and the pattern to make myself this cowl.
• 4 hanks of handpainted Atacama Alpaca yarn, in colors 506 (pale tan with burgundy and blue and purple) and 513 (brown with burgundy and orange-ish spots). I'm probably going to make a shawls with it, but I'm unsure just yet. I have 220+ yards of each color.
• A stand-up basket lined with fabric to set by my knitting chair.
• A pair of lined baskets for my knitting bookshelf, for yarn storage.
• 2 pairs of Lantern Moon Destiny circular needles: 16" US 6 and 26" US 4. - And oh, are they a delight to knit with!
• A knitted, beaded bracelet kit with pale white beads - for which I have to find size 0000 needles. That's just damned scary. But exciting too!
• Half a dozen balls of Patons' Katrina in Lilac and Ocean. I love this yarn, though I've no idea what I'm making with it!
  

Jealousy and Porn and other things.

First of all, Haphazard Knitter has knitting-themed refrigerator word magnets. I'm so jealous!!!

And .. did I promise porn? I think I did. Lemme pull some of it out to add to the drooling of this deliciously hot friday. Really, I mean hot. I think it came close to 80 degrees today. Yes. In November. (Which reminds me, I need to look up the origin/meaning of 'Indian Summer'.)





That is, from top to bottom, some Tiny Toes I got to make a beautiful beaded scarf (picked up at SAFF of course), some Knit Picks Shimmer I have for a shawl I want to make for Larissa, the dear friend that taught me to knit, and the Lorna's Laces Mother Lode sock yarn I got from my Yarn Aboard benefactress, that I'm just looking for the -perfect- sock pattern for. I'm afraid that any of the more detailed patterns might be a bit too much for this beautiful colorway.



I promised a photo of my book stash .. there it is, meager as it is for now. But I've got more on my Amazon Wish List, and a few more coming, thanks to my darling husband. He just purchased himself a spinning wheel, so I get to get books and such. Nice trade, hmm?