flyinmysoup

hardee har har.  the fella has been off in another state for two weeks now, doing some kind of training for the gaurd.  which means i have been all alone for that time.  usually, that would mean some mad, crazy knitting for me, but i jacked up my wrist early on, screwed up not one, not two, but 3 socks (including the flaming gull wings--which are now, once again, merely balls of yarn), and so felt properly discouraged.  i've also been a homework machine.  anyhow, i have a little progress on my Sockapalooza Pal's socks.  so far, i'm really pleased with how this yarn (especially dyed for her) looks in the Pomatomus pattern.  it's not doing any discernable pattern with the colors, which i was trying to avoid.  i myself don't have any hate for the pooling that sometimes happens with hand painted yarns, but i know that some people do.  better safe than have a disappointed sock pal!

i also decided to resurrect a project that had been sent to the "holy lord i can NOT knit on this damnedable thing anymore" pile---the Lily of the Valley Stole.  really, i want to start a shawl knit in the round (cause i paid good money for the third Mystery Shawl, damnit!) and want the needle i'm using on this bad boy.  i am a little bit over half done with it thus far.  and, since you all haven't heard it in a while, did i mention that i really don't like nupps?  in case you forgot.  can you see the mistake i made in the dimondy part?  i know you can and i decided that i don't care--i just want to be done with this thing.  i know that i'm going to love it a shit-ton when it's done, but right now, it's kinda sucking my will.....

ah, what does spring break mean to me? reading books that have absolutely nothing to do with school, that's what! i'm a voracious reader but i don't get to read for pleasure as often as i would like to, so this week i did a bit of catch up in that department. today i finished Empire Falls by Richard Russo. it has been in the cue for a while and i've owned it since january. it turned out to be really good. i also read the cleverly named Knit One, Kill Two and Needled to Death both by Maggie Sefton.  these are very cute books, high on novelty and sorta low on things like plot.  oh, well.  just goes to show what a sucker i am for anything knitting related!
i did get some more dyeing done.  i've come to the conclusion that i either have to attempt to start selling the dyed yarns or lay off it for a while--my stash is getting sorta biggish!  this first one i'm not too sure about.  i like it better now than i did before i re-skeined it.  it's just such an odd combination of masculine colors and then pink....it's not awful, and i'd probably buy it, but it's just kind of underwhelming, i guess.
now this one, this one is a different story entirely...this turned out exactly how i envisioned it!  i wanted something really reptilian.  i did have gift plans for this yarn, well, gift socks, but it's really going to depend on how selfish i'm feeling that day!

oh, joy of freakin' joys!  i've done it!  the BS sock....are DONE!




Pattern:  just a generic toe up, but i shall call them BS Socks of Soul Sucking Power
Yarn:  Lion Brand Magic Stripes, BS colorway (clown puke is still better)
Start/Finish: 23 january 2006/ 12 March 2006
Notes:  this is my 4th pair of socks for 2006...whOOt!

normally, even when i've grown to detest a pattern as i knit it, when i finally bind off, all that animosity flys away and i am left happy and accomplished feeling.  not this time.  i still want to set these on fire (well, almost).  i'm positive that this will go away after they get their first washing and bloom and soften up.

guess what came for me in the mail yesterday???  oooohhh, my yarn from Knit Picks, that's what!  holy lord, this stuff feels soooooooo nice.  and i'm very very tickled that the combonation of the Hollyberry and the Fog Merino Style is not at all vomit inducing (while i do like my socks to be a little, well---let's not mince words, shall we?--insane, other articles of clothing i prefer to not mimic circus folk too often).  in fact, it worked out just as i'd envisioned it with the hollyberry being a more blue red and the fog being cool as well.  the other yarn is just natural in color, but boy howdy is it soft!  the Austrian Knee Socks call to me, but so does my Sockapalloza pal's socks, oh!  and a little thing called homework.  sheesh. 

i decided i'm not going to swatch for the Deep Argyle V-Neck Sweater Vest yet.  i really need to focus on some other things, like afore mentioned homework and socks.  so....
yeah, really that line of thought lasted all of, oh 30 seconds.  ya know how it is.  you begin to whole compromising with yourself on the spending of your time.  isn't it beautimous????  i don't know yet whether or not i've achieved gauge (use US 4's) but this was really fun to work up, so i won't be shattered if i have to do it again.  ps.  after washing it up, the merino style doesn't feel so much like yarn anymore as it does velvety smooth butter, fyi.

and i've begun the stash reduction projects--wrist warmers knit up wilst i watched The 40-Year-Old Virgin --which was actually really really funny.  the wrist warmers are Cash iroha, fuschia, and i love them.

i got gauge for the Deep V-neck argyle vest!!!!  i ended up having to swatch twice, and luckily, i had a 3.75mm circ to start on.  look how much i've finished already!

the ribbing at the bottom took longer than the whole amount of argyle i've done.  i'm really really pleased with this so far, and all i really want to do is keep on knitting on it.  i've been bribing myself--i can knit 2 rows for every one critique i finish (i have 10 to do)...thus far, it's working.  i'm pleased with my tension, too.  i do have a question--what's with the pictures of the inside of faire isle work?  do i need to post those too?  what does it prove????  i feel like i'm missing some huge esoteric piece of knitting knowledge or something...

(two pats on the head for knowing what the title is about--really, the geeks of the world should unite!)
so, i bet you would like to see the progress that i'm making on the Deep V-neck argyle sweater vest, right?  right?  okay, here ya go. see?  isn't that just marvelous progress?  i feel retarded right about now--well, no, to be fair i felt retarded right about five minutes before i started unravelling the 7 inches of progress that i had made. yep, seems that the row gauge was off, by oh, say 1.5 sts.  sucksucksuck.  the vest would have been roughly 31" long when finished and me, at just under 5'2" would have looked like i raided my mom's closet.  GAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!  i was crushed a little bit, and have lost the steam that was moving the knitting train.  i look at you in shame, pile o' delicious yarn. 
i'm still with the stash decreasing, and have started up one of the Airy Scarves from Last-Minute Knitted Gifts.  it
it's the kinda of project that has lots of bang for the buck...sooo easy to do yet it looks so pretty.  hey, does anyone else adore the combonation of the yellow-green needle with the mauvey KSH?  oh, and it really is the same width the whole way down.  when i was snapping the pic i almost fell face first into the wall i moved, making the bottom of the scarf appear wonky. 
and i behaved just shamefully today.  the closest LYS is having a 30-50% off sale until sunday and stupid idjit i am, the fella and i went.  he is a freak of knitting nature and only knits on ONE THING AT A TIME...oh, and he--you'll want to sit down i think--he doesn't stash, at all.  he valigntly tried to find yarn for this beetchin aran he took a fancy to, but no luck.  i, ya know, me of the "i'm not buying yarn for a while", did find something, but i can totally justify it!  those of you that have been coming to these parts for a while may remember Ralph and Andy.  well, these boys here are the same yarn, different color.  (ps.  this is NOT cashmere, as the LYS owner told me, it's Lacey Lamb and i still love it).  got both of these guys for less than the price of 1 ball online.  see?  totally justafiable...i hang my head in shame.