Stash Update

According to Ravelry, I have over 48 miles of yarn.

Farrow Rib Keyhole Scarf

Malabrigo is such a yummy yarn, I wanted to knit something that I could get some good wear out of, that I could wear close to my neck but not end up as bulky. Hubby recently used this stitch to make a cowl for his father-in-law and I loved it, so I took the pattern and worked up a quick and easy pattern for a keyhole scarf that fits snug around the neck and is warm without being bulky. And the best thing is it takes just one skein of Malabrigo Worsted!

Needles: I used US8 and it made a nice fabric.
Yarn: Malabrigo Worsted in color Emerald, though any worsted would work just as well.
Gauge: Not terribly important.

Cast on 30 stitches. You can use whatever cast on you prefer. I just used long-tail, though I think casting on in K2P1 rib would make for a cleaner edge in retrospect.

K2 P1 every row. (This is a very easy to remember stitch, because it's the same on both the right and wrong side!) Continue until you have about 4-5 inches of fabric.

To make keyhole, K2 P1 twice, then bind off the next 18 stitches, then K2 P1 the last 6 stitches. On the next row, K2 P1 twice, then cast on 18 stitches (I just used backwards loop, but I'm sure there are other methods), then K2 P1 to end.

Now just continue K2 P1 across every row until scarf is as long as you want or you run out of yarn. I used less than a full skein but you could use a full one and it'd just be a little longer.

Voila! A quick, easy, yummy-warm scarf to get you through the rest of the winter months!

Still more progress!

Not any progress on the Sea Urchin actually, though I plan to work on it tonight .. maybe. The decreases are daunting to me, but after I finish them, really I don't have a lot to do so it's in my best interests to get them done.

I started a pair of socks though. Only one of a pair .. I wasn't wanting to do the whole two socks at a time thing while driving .. but it's a sock. And I'm mostly finished with the foot. It's my first toe-up sock, so I get to learn how to either work a short-row heel, or figure out how to do one with a heel flap. I have destructions for both, so we'll see.

Jason also started a pair of socks at the same time. I'm unsure how happy he is with it, or if he'll keep working on it, but I'm proud! It took him a while to get the toe right, and he's not pleased with how it's looking at the moment because he didn't mirror the increases, but he's also not willing to undo it and start over -again-, and I don't blame him.

I'm glad I got bit by the sock bug finally though. I have bunches of sock yarn. And if I use up what I have, that means I can get more!

I'm also rearranging my queue on Ravelry, to include only things I actually have the yarn for and intend to knit. I can use favorites for everything else.

More progress

I've been on a roll since I finished that shawl .. which Mardelle adored, by the way, which made me feel good. It's the first thing I've knitted for anyone really, besides the stuff for Brandon last Christmas. I picked up that Sea Urchin sweater I'd started almost a year ago, and have managed to get to the beginning of the sleeve decreases now. I'm pretty damned proud of myself, actually. I've made a lot of progress on it, not to mention already deciding I want to make another one. It'd be real pretty in a fingering-weight cotton, I think.

Finished Object!!

I get to be excited about this one, because it's not only an actual finished object that's not a dishcloth, or a quick 1-hour phone case, but it's a gift for a dear family friend -and- a bit of stash-busting as well! Oh, and it was supposed to be my project for Project Spectrum, too! It was done before May .. just not finished!


The color is more green than these pictures show, but I think the green bedspread eats all that green up. I ran out of yarn .. 500 yards of it too! .. so I ended up trimming it with some Araucania Azapa, which is a yummy Merino/Silk/Alpaca blend.


It came out pretty good, if I do say so myself. And I'm so pleased with the result, I think I might take the pink I have of the Brooks Farm Duet and make another, maybe for my niece, or maybe even me! I haven't decided yet. I am becoming a bit more fond of softer and warmer pinks, though.

Project Spectrum 2009

I think I'm going to try harder to do more with this this year. I really like it when I manage to keep with a project that I start. it just seems like something always gets in the way. Now that I have better control of my camera than point-and-shoot, I'm going to commit to posting something for this at least once.

There, I've said it. Now there's no way out.

Project Spectrum

March 2009 marks the beginning of the 4th cycle of Project Spectrum! This year’s theme is the compass rose and the four cardinal directions. In many cultures, each of the cardinal directions - North, East, South, and West - are associated with a certain color. Using this traditional model of four distinct colors representing the directions on the compass rose, we will explore the ways that these four colors can be mixed, blended and combined with others through our projects, as well as taking notice of these colors around us day to day.

Just as the cardinal directions are linked to a color, each direction is also linked to a season, an element, and a natural material in many cultures. This quartet of features (color, material, season, and element) are a part of this cardinal direction. As a participant in Project Spectrum, you can choose to simply explore the colors associated, or even the textures of the natural material. If you choose, you can interpret the directions through the lens of the associated season or of the element. Your interpretations can be literal or esoteric. You can explore the science or the philosophy. Like the Project Spectrums of years past, it is totally up to you!

NORTH (March/April)
Color: Green
Material: Stones/Gems/Rocks
Season: Winter
Element: Earth

EAST (May/June)
Color: Yellow
Material: Wood
Season: Spring
Element: Air

SOUTH (July/August)
Color: Red
Material: Metal
Season: Summer
Element: Fire

WEST (September/October)
Color: Blue
Material: Glass
Season: Autumn
Element: Water


Think of the liberty of having four colors - you can blend the colors and explore the different hues, or you can combine the colors with others in the rainbow, comparing and contrasting. You can play with hues of color where green meets yellow, or before red shades into blue.

What is a knitter?

What is a knitter? She – or he, as we have learned that there are many men who enjoy the craft as well – is someone who appreciates the value of a handmade garment, something that will last years longer than anything bought in a department store. A knitter knows – sometimes instinctively and sometimes through years of practice, trial and error, or observation – the magic that comes from looping strands of twisted fibers continuously to create fabric. A knitter can touch a skein of yarn, looped and twisted upon itself in ways that would make a contortionist blink, and see its potential as a lacy shawl, able to be pulled through a wedding ring, or a warm, textured sweater, worn to ward off the chill of a winter’s day. A knitter might maintain a stash which makes her (again I am saying ‘her’ where I might just as easily say him) the envy of her knitting circle, or she might only purchase yarn for the projects she is currently working on. In short, a knitter is someone who values the craft of knitting and all that goes into it.

Open Letter to my Knitting

Dear WIPs

Please don’t think that I’m neglecting you when I cast on yet another project. I’m not, I promise. You have known all along I have PADD (Project Attention Deficit Disorder), so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that I am lusting after yet another yummy thing to put on needles. Owl? Oh yes, don’t worry, I’ll come back to you. Sea Urchin sweater? I haven’t forgotten you. I’m just a little tired of dealing with your neckline. Wrapigan? Think about it, you’re miles of stockinette. Would you stay constant? Serenity cable scarf? You’re complicated enough to not be easy right now .. and I’m a bit concerned about your color at the moment. I’ve already had to start you twice. Give me a break. The two chevron scarves I started .. one of you is a gift, true. But the recipient doesn’t expect you any time soon, and the other is just for me. I can wait. Baby blocks? Yes, you’re for a baby shower in a month. I know I need at least three times six squares, more if possible. But I simply must cast on for my Jayne hat!

Love, Me, the knitter with PADD.

The Way Knit Was

There are a lot of ways to hold knitting needles, but in Victorian England there was only one correct way for a proper lady to knit. The needles were not to be held, as the common women did, beneath their palms. A lady with concern for her appearance was always to knit holding the needles like a pencil, as she would for drawing, painting, or other artistic pursuits. It was better to look elegant than to knit efficiently. Holding the needles that way is very tiring for your hands, as modern knitters churning out heavy sweaters will notice. But if you were only supposed to worry your pretty little head about lace knitting, you wouldn’t mind so much.

Yarn Harlot's Page-a-Day Knitting Calendar (1/29/2009)

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.

What I'm knitting now.

I decided it was high time I learned how to knit two socks at once. Double magic loop .. skeeery! I like it though, especially the progress I'm making, though I think I might still knit socks on DPNs too. I just like the way they feel in my hands!

The Wrapigan is still chugging along. I'm actually close to making the second armhole, but it's gotten heavy and I had other things that frankly caught my interest more. But it's not forgotten. not a UFO yet!.

I've found several dropped stitches in this, and I'm thinking I'm going to start over once more. I'm frustrated by this frankly. I really like the yarn, but I can't make it do what I want it to do, and lace ..even this simple feather and fan .. is defeating me.


These were -supposed- to be finished for Christmas, but since Brandon was staying with us at the time, knitting them with him present was .. problematic. They're almost finished now though. I'm going to end up posting the pattern on Ravelry, since it's my own.

A Visit From St. Knit-olas
Filked by Sue (Yosemiteelp) and Jim Michael (Sableat5)

‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the stash
Not a needle was knitting, I was all out of cash;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
All knit in intarsia and lace if you dare;

The cashmere was nestled in soft little skeins,
“It’s saved for a project!” a knitter explains;
Mamma in her lace shawl, and I in my vest,
Had just settled down in our fiber filled nest,

When out on the lawn I perceived a kerfuffle,
Untangling my scarf, to the window I shuffled.
In order to get there before break of day,
I had to clear project bags out of the way.

The soft drifts of fiber on the floorboards below
By the glow of the night light looked like new fallen snow,
As I managed to get my chin up to the sill,
St. Nick and his reindeer came over the hill,

His hand crocheted hat and Selbuvotter mittens,
Looked as soft and as warm as a basket of kittens.
Like a fast spinning swift his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name;

“Now, Mohair! Alpaca! now, Camel and Rayon!
On Needle, on Marker! on Cable! and Cast On!
Fly on to the knit shop! it’s less than a mile!
We’ll bring one more project to add to the pile!”

As fibers that though the skilled spinner’s hands fly,
When carded too briskly will mount to the sky,
So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,
With the sleigh full of knitting, and St. Nicholas too.

And then, in a twinkling, I heard through the ceiling
A clatter of needles that sent my head reeling.
As I picked up my knitting, I turned fast enough,
To see St. Knit land in a blizzard of fluff.

He was dressed in hand knits, from his head to his toes,
For knitting is timeless as everyone knows;
A bundle of wonders he had on his back,
He pulled projects! yarn! needles! from deep in his sack.

The yarn – how it sparkled, the pattern, how daring,
I knew the techniques with my friends I’d be sharing,
The sweater was cabled, the sleeves they were steeked,
And parts of the pattern just begged to be tweaked;

The scarf was fair isle in a curious pattern,
With the bright moon and stars and the rings around Saturn;
The hat was of lace, both knit and crochet,
‘Twould keep my hands busy for many a day.

He wrote a fine pattern, this jolly old elf,
And I gasped when I saw it, in spite of myself;
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know he’d leave plenty of thread;

He spoke not a word, but with straights he did knit,
More stockings so all of the goodies would fit,
And laying his needles aside of his nose,
And dropping a skein, up the chimney he rose;

He sprang to his sleigh, ‘neath the shinning aurora,
And away they all flew like a wisp of angora.
But I heard him exclaim, with sparkling wit,
“Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good knit.”

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.

The Wreck

So.

Nearly a month go, it was my birthday. And it was set to be a pretty good day, despite the fact that I was going to have to work most of the day. Because it was My Birthday. How can -anything- bad happen on ones birthday? (We won't mention Mister Shakespeare here, kay?)

I was the first at a red light .. not by my choosing, it was red before I got anywhere close. And I was not in any hurry, so I waited. The light went green. I started to go ... and out of the corner of my eye on my side of the road came a flash of white. All I remember is screaming in terror. I was positive the vehicle .. I could not tell at the time what was speeding at my driver's side door .. was going to hit me and destroy life as I knew it. I have been told that the nice folks in the fire department building at that intersection heard the impact from inside. I do not remember hearing the impact. I remember my screams, and my sobbing. Wailing. Keening. Even after my car stopped moving .. at a peculiar angle I might add, tilted, like a sailboat making a fast, tight turn ... I screamed and sobbed.

I have never been so completely terrified in my life. The poor man in the BMW who witnessed the inci- acci- no, the crash .. this was not an accident because the idiot should have stopped when his light went red ... got out of his car and opened my door to find out if I was alright. I'm perfectly positive he got quite an earful but I don't remember really. I know I was crying, and cussing. but I was not hurt. By whatever power watches over me, I was not hurt. Scared? Boy was I scared. Not to the point of incontinence mind, but scared just the same. A woman .. I do not remember seeing her afterwards .. came to the door and told me to turn off my car and take out the keys. I did so, and hunted down the battery to my phone. Everything from my purse was scattered under my feet and on the passenger side.

I finally got out of the car as the police and paramedics showed up. I was still clearly in shock as they asked me if I was fine .. which I repeat, I was perfectly fine .. but they let me go to check on the other guy .. apparently his airbag deployed. I looked at the front of my car, perfectly prepared to see damage. I was not prepared for seeing the tire completely gone. My car had traveled probably 40 feet or so .. I'm a bad judge of distance .. without a tire. The axle scraped across the pavement for 40 feet or so before the car managed to stop. Now, I will point out I had just started from a red light turning green. I could not have been going but 5-10 miles an hour. The speed he had to have been going to push my car that far without a tire is unimaginable.

The first thing I did was call Jason. "Hi, honey? I've just been in an accident. The car has no tire." I'm sure that's what he needed to hear on his way to work, but he's a wonderful husband, and has an understanding boss, and he turned right around to come bring me home, but it was gonna take a good 45 minutes. I then tried to call the Impact rep and my boss .. and reached neither of them. But I'm sure getting a voicemail that says 'Hey Deb, it's Tania. I've been in a wreck, I can't go to work today.' certainly made her day exciting.

The paramedics insisted on taking my vitals at least, and I signed the release saying I refused to be taken to the hospital. Again, I didn't need to go. I felt a little bruise coming on my left elbow where it likely bumped the door. But I was fine, otherwise. The cop ... Timothy Allen ... came over to ask me what happened. I told him. he left me to go deal with the other guy. The BMW guy came over to me eventually and told me Mr Man in the now destroyed white truck told them I ran a red light, but of course I had his story backing me up that it was Mr White Truck that ran the light. Marie had texted me a happy birthday and I let her know about the crash. She called immediately to see if I needed her to come sit with me. I didn't, but it was very sweet. Deb finally called back, and my Impact rep Jim. both told me they were glad I was okay, and Deb said just to keep her updated as to when I could go back to work and stuff.

I just kept looking at my car. The firemen eventually found my tire. Underneath the Tacoma that hit me. He ripped my tire off. And my cv joint, I later discovered, as it fell from his bumper when they started to get his car towed. The entire driver's side front fender was smashed in. Completely. But there was nothing on the door. Looking back at it I realize just how lucky I got. Had I started going a little faster, or earlier, he would have hit the door. There's less metal there to protect me. I would have been really badly hurt. But my car .. my beautiful blue Torrent, she was badly damaged.

I held myself together pretty well, all things considered. I got the paperwork from the officer, and Jason walked me to his car to take me home. That's when I fell apart. I had just been in an accident .. not an accident, a wreck .. that by rights could have badly hurt if not killed me. I was wearing my seatbelt .. which I will never not do again .. and I got lucky. Jason hugged me and let me cry a little, then we went to the city impound lot, where they took the car .. to get things out of it. At this point, we were kinda hoping it got totaled. On the way home he gave me my birthday present. He hadn't even had time to wrap it, but it made me feel so much better even so. It certainly made a really bad beginning to my birthday a lot lot better.

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.

Progress, of the Knitting Kind

So, I have been knitting a little. Just very little. I've been working a little along on my Sea Orchid sweater, and I've gotten to just past where it splits for the neck. but I keep screwing it up on the back half of the body, and having to go back repeatedly. Like I'm doing right now .. I have to frog four rows. But that's okay. it's not like I have to go back to the beginning or anything. I really do need to sit down and write out the pattern again, so I won't get lost.

I finished a baby bib and a burp cloth for the girl at best buy that's having a baby. I'm probably gonna make one more of each, and then probably a blanket. I might go ahead and start that, since I have some Caron Simply Sofy in baby colors that I'm dying to use up. And some Homespun too. Though those colors may be too girly, and I -think- she's having a boy.

I bought my yarn for the Goddess Knits Anniversary Mystery Shawl today .. but it's 2400 yards of laceweight, and it was taking too long to wind, so the girl I know that works there is gonna bring it to me on Thursday at knit-day. I also got some more cotton for the market bags that brandon has been knitting up like a fiend. Feind. No, Fiend.

That's about it. I'll try to get some pictures going soon.

Very Little Progress

There has been knitting going on around here. But there has been very very little. I've been bad and not keeping knitting in my office with me. But I'm hoping that once I move the dresser out of the office and get the bookcase into the office and I can get things actually put away, I might do better.

I've gotten to the body on the Sea Urchin sweater, and am about 10 rows or so away from splitting for the neck. Which will be exciting really. Just have to get there. And I'm a third or so of the way through the first baby burp cloth I'm making. Other than that .. not a lot to talk about. Nor has there been any more progress on my owl, though Jason and Brandon have finished theirs.

I haven't even started on the Wrath project yet, though I know I need to. I'll get there soon, I swear it.

Happy Solstice!

Oh wow. Ravelry, for the first time, isn't slow! My old PC took a while to load what has become one of my favorite knitting resources. And now that my new PC is here, and set up, and working, and the internet isn't being a huge pain in the ass, I was finally able to hit Ravelry without finding it a chore. And wow! I still had some major slow loading even after Casey and Jess got the new server, so I was a bit .. well .. concerned that the new server wasn't doing what it was supposed to. Lo and behold, it wasn't their server .. it was my POS 4-year-old computer!

There has been knitting, in between the waiting and the fussing and the transferring and the setting up and the copying. I worked some more on Sea Urchin, though I screwed up part of it and had to rip back several rows and work it again. This time though I got it right, so I can continue. I really should keep working on Envy the Owl, since the boys are working on finishing theirs. Jason, in fact, is almost completely finished with his. I had to start a cotton project to knit at our Wednesday night knitting group, because we stay outside on the patio since it's nice out, but it's just too hot to knit alpaca/silk on bamboo needles when it's still 90-degrees at 8pm. So I started a baby bib. Since a girl at work will be having a bany in a few months, I figured I should get started, hmm?

My laptop is becoming a repository for the Cast-On podcast, which is by far my favorite right now. Of course, I've only caught a snippet here and there of others. I probably should check them out again, since I do enjoy knitting to podcasts. I've gotten the first two series' downloaded so far. I've a ways to go, but then they'll be on the laptop, and I can even take them upstairs and hide away for a while.

WIP (Woot!) and Wrath!

If you don't read my regular blog, I have my laptop finally, after a bit of a wrathful afternoon.



This is my new baby. Her name is, for the moment, Blossom. I think it's going to stick, but I'm not yet sure. She's a beauty, and there wasn't a whole lot I needed to do to get her going. A few icons moved from desktop to Quick-start, some futzing around with the Google Desktop, Gadgets and such, and I had to set up Lo-Jack for Laptops, plus install AVG. I'm waiting till I get my PC to decide what I'm doing about most of it, since Blossom is really just my 'I don't want to be tethered to my office' computer.

While waiting for Blossom to arrive .. and before I realized I was going to have to go and get her myself, I worked on Sea Urchin a little.



I emailed Ilga with some questions, and she got back to me with answers, which made me feel a lot better about the pattern in general. She also said she was delighted to hear I was knitting this as my first real garment, as it's a little more advanced than others. I've decided to add half a repeat before going on to the body, which I'll be getting to tonight. I'm so excited! I've gone through one ball of yarn .. but I have plenty of it since it was purchased for a different pattern.

The Seven Deadly S(p)ins club is having another contest. This time it's to come up with what your dream Wrath project would be. The prize is the yarn to make said Wrath project, dyed by them. I'm gonna hafta try this one.


Oh. And Isis is watching you.

So Smart!

So, Jason got me this pattern, right? It's beautiful. Ilga Leja's Sea Urchin.

I swatched for it. Really swatched! Washed it, blocked it, everything! And I got gauge! So .. the now daunting process of knitting the thing is all I have left. And I was all ready to begin .. when I read the pattern. Increase every second row, fourth row and sixth row .. huh? What is this, German?

*sigh*

I was determined though, and after casting on and knitting up to the point where I needed to actually figure out the increases, I knew I couldn't just stop. So I took out a lovely little journal I found on my bookshelf, and began to write the pattern out. Once I got to those pesky increases, I wrote out every row. All 39 of them. And started trying to plot the increases. Including how many stitches they would leave me with.

Three revisions of said writing later .. thank goodness for pencils and erasers .. I'm pretty sure I've got it written out correctly. At least now my written out destructions mesh with the pattern and the errata to the pattern that I found. I end on the correct row, and with the correct number of rows knitted after the final increase. I'm trying to decide now if I want to make the sleeve just a little longer.

I feel so smart!

PS: If you're interested, I posted in my boring blog a very very long, photo-gluttonous post about my flowerbeds.