flyinmysoup

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.

(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. 

so, i started the vest over.  here are some steek shots. all was going really well.....that was until i decided i'd try it on.  oh god.  it's so long.  i hope blocking will fix it, but if not, someone taller than me is getting a present!  i love love love steeking, however, and i'll just make myself another vest if this one ends up like a tunic.  see the glass of booze on the cut up vest?  it is delicious framboise, a raspberry flavoured beer, and i love it with all my little heart.  if you like raspberries, you should give it a go, even if you don't like beer at all.  just an fyi.

i need to get working on my Sockapallooza socks...i fear that i may have lost my place in the damnable pattern and might end up having to start over.  grrrr....add that to another tiny stash enhancement--isn't this the prettiest color--and you have the mix for slow going on the socks.  i'm planning on making a really loose-gauged kiri shawl with that Kidsilk.  and just for justification, i got both balls for just a smidge over $18...that sale at the LYS was a dangerous thing, and i'm pretty glad i got out mostly unscathed. 

i leave you with a picture of my new favorite thing:

one of my favorite area LYS is closing its doors at the end of the month.  Bo Peep's Fiber Shop in Greenwood is done, and that's really sad--HOWEVER, the 20% off of everything in the store isn't sad.  i decided to comfort my grief with a bit of Stash Enhancement:

i got a skein of Skacel Merino Lace in color 417 (navy).  it's not my most favorite color, but i have such a love for lace done in deep, sophisticated palettes.  to me, it just makes the work so very rich.  the one skein has 1375yds in it--oh yeah!

i also picked up 7 skeins of the Cascade Pima Tencel in shade 1693 (an icy sky blue).  now, i'm really not a huge fan of blue--i much prefer purples and reds for wear, but i love how this yarn feels and the blue was all they had in any significant amount.  i'm envisioning this worked up into perhaps the Picovoli tee.  it's just so soft and smooth--perfect for a summer top.

and because i've been really smitten with the idea of felted bowls/vase type things lately, i picked up some 8 mm double pointeds. 

oh dear god.  i have been initiated into the world of knitting with beads.  for so long, i had held out against the siren call of beads, glittery, sparkledy bits of happiness that they were.  sure, i picked up the odd bag of beads here in there, ya know, for making cutie stitch markers and the like, but it was all just innocent, i swear.  cause i knew what would happen if i gave in.  that brings me to the pattern that tempted me to the darkside--Perdita from the 06 summer Knitty.  oh, foul temptress.  i didn't succumb to any of the other beaded patterns i oohed over cause, well, they're all major investments of time and money.  but these cuffs are just the opposite.  cheap?  yeah, less than $3--and that's if i bought new beads every time.  quick?  i've completed 2 since yesterday, and i'm on my third.  and look what i picked up tonight: see all the Perle cotton?  i found it on clearance, 3 for $1.  and i've heard rumors that another big chain craft store has 'em for 50 cents. 
i've chosen beads in a smokey color and silver ones.  here are the two that i've finished so far:  i felt like a fancy Wonder Woman when i had them both on.  the steel colored one is the Blue bell pattern done in the called for thread/yarn, and it is now in the possesion of a dear friend.  the purple one is made out of Knitpicks Shadow in Vineyard (left over from the Lily stole) and it's the Lilac pattern.  it will also be going to a friend.   i love this pattern.  ah, lace--if you've ever read this blog, you know how i feel about lace. 
oh, this is a slippery slope, i can tell.  after i finished the first one, i chatted ceaselessly to the fellow for about 15 minutes about all the things i could do with beads in my knitting....save us all.

i broke down and bought some more yarn.  *le sigh*  i keep saying "i need to go on a yarn diet!!!  no more yarn until (insert goal here), and then, oh boy!"  yeah, i'm a damned liar.  i've had the pattern for the Eris cardi since 20 Aug 2005, and i really wanted to make it in a cotton/wool blend.  so it would be something i could probably wear for at least 3 seasons instead of 2ish.  i'd been eyeing the knitpick Main Line, but at $3.29 for 82 yds, it was a sucktastic deal.  well damn you knitpicks!  damn you and your sale!  i got the yarn in Red Velvet Cake.  and so the shipping would be free, i added in a hank of the brand spanking new Bare Merino DK so that: 1) the fella can swatch for the awsome sweater (the first one in 222) he's picked out to knit (when his socks are finished. one-project-at-a-time-freak) and 2) i can try my hand at designing a cardigan.  so, we'll see.

and, i've fallen in love:

red elf shoes.  **swooon** unfortunatly, they're a little bit salty for the wallet...that's a lot of yarn (not to mention food and stuff like that) to give up, even if they are red elf shoes.  (Fella, if you're reading this, keep an eye out for these to be cheap someday.  cause they would be the most rockin' thing....ever)

Indiana has been just gross lately.  humid humid humid and hot hot hot days have combined forces to wreak havoc on allergies, mine included.  i'd gotten everything under control--the sneezing, the runny nose, the itchy watery swollen eyes, and then i was nice.  a dear friend had to venture into the world of THE MALL, and i, being the sweetie i am (sometimes), agreed to join her.  What follows is proof that i am allergic to the Circle Center Mall:

picture A is my eye normally.  B is what happened after the mall.  i think that the evidence speaks for itself.
it's not all swollen eyes in the land of kt, though.  something wonderful came for me in the mail today!  something that's going to take my mind off of my deformed face--YARN.  yep yep, my knitpicks order showed up today!!!! 
here's the bulk of it--19 skeins of Main Line (isn't that what you do with drugs?  main line them?  what an ironic name for a yarn that i think i may just love).  the color was sooo much better than what they have on their site.  it's not as....dusty?....looking in real life, which is just what i was hoping for.  i shall start swatching for the Eris cardi today.   i also got a skein of the new Bare DK merino, and let me tell you--delish.  it's so soft and buttery.  and quite the bargain too.

i bought a couple of new patterns this week.  i'm sorta in love with the idea of PDF patterns--it's such instant gratification!  First i picked up Leda's Dream from Melanie at Pink Lemon Twist.  you might remember some previous posts on the Mystery Stole along (Melanie designed that pattern, too).  well, i frogged it, even after i had started it over.  the stole is predominately stockinette stitch, and i just wasn't loving it.  i may grab up some of the new Gloss yarn from knitpicks to make it at a later date, but right now, i just wanted something really lacey to use the Merino Lace yarn on.  and i think that Leda's Dream fills that bill.
i am totally singing the praises of Bonne Marie over at Chicknits.  i had some problems with the ordering system she has, and she was so freaking helpful.  i love love love her.  she was totally the best and helped me get two patterns that i've been drooling over.  Cece caught my eye right away.  i think that i have finally found the pattern that the infamous Lily yarn has been waiting for--turns out that i wouldn't have had enough to make the v-neck cardi i wrote up...guess that's another thing to add to a future Knitpicks order!  i also got a copy of the Ribby Cardi.  i've been lusting after this one almost as long as i've been knitting.  i've read about it on Lori's blog, and heard nothing but good things about it on the various boards i frequent.  so woot!
i'm participating in the Mysterious and Lacey Swap and i've gotten my package all together to send to my pal.  here's what i'm sending--just wanted some feedback on it.  i always get swap anxiety.  it's just a little scary, and i don't want to disappoint!

now, a question:  what do you, the comment-leavers (and you lurkers too!  come outta hiding and answer, why don'tcha??) think the best way for me to respond to your comments?  emails?  semaphore?? 

have you heard about Michael's yarn sale? yeppers, every yarn in the store is on sale, and while michael's doesn't carry the cream o' the crop, i decided to go check it out. and i ended up buying Lionbrand Woolease to make two sweaters. i'm making the Ribby Cardi from Chicknits, one for my sister (in the blue and the brown) and one for myself (the green and the brown). now, over the years, i've developed into quite the little yarn snob, and i've turned my nose up at most acrylic and acrylic blends. unfortunately, the bank account has not evolved with me. Even at Knitpick's killer prices, the wool yarn for the sweater would have run me about $26. i paid $32 for the yarn for both sweaters. and since i've been practically salivating for some stash enhancement, this was an affordable way to go. not to mention, i've been pretty iffy about knitting my sister something that is both a large investment of time AND money. she's pretty fashion conscious, and she goes through clothing like some people go through food. (i almost never have to shop she always has clothes for me to go through...i call it shopping at the House of Beth.) paying $16 for the yarn makes it alright, though. and i like the colors, so when the sweater gets moved to the Goodwill/kate pile, it'll all be good.

a couple of years ago, my parents forgot my birthday. after that happened, i decided that i would celebrate the 15 days of kate's birth so that, should they forget again, i would not be as upset about it. plus, birthdays rock. anywho, the celebration starts on 1 december and goes until my birthday proper (the 15th). i enjoy it, and gearl seems to think it's rather silly and fun.
this year, on the first day of my birthday, i also picked up my first paycheck in about four years. (what a great feeling!) and decided that it was a day for celebration indeed. g and i headed over to Stitches and Scones, and i picked up Barbara Walker's Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns. i love it. just browsing through it makes me feel insanely creative. in fact, i am using a stitch pattern out of it for some socks that i'm making in this lovely yarn that i picked up at Mass Ave on the fourth day of my birthday. it's Soxie from the Great Adirondack Yarn Company. the colorway is "Cancun" but i've taken to calling it Parrot yarn. i'll post progress shots of the socks when they are more than some ribbing! something not so wonderful happened last night when i was working on the Parrot Socks--one of my 2.25mm Brittany DPNs broke right in half! i sent out an email to them today so that i can take advantage of their 5yr replacement gaurentee. anyone have any experiance with that?

days three and four were spent at work, so not too excitting, but i did pick up a new orchid at Trader joe's last night (i'd put off adding a new one to the collection, but it's my birthday celebration and i couldn't withstand any longer) isn't it lovely?? and tiny???

i don't know about you, but each New Year brings with it a slight feeling of guilt in the department of knitting. i look at my stash, UFO's, and FWIP's, and i can't help but hear that little naggy voice in the back of my head, telling me to shape up. thus far, the voice hasn't been able to quell my love of new yarn or my chronic PI (project infidelity). i've tried many things--mostly bribing myself with the promise of some fabulously lovely yarn--but to no avail. i thought that i'd take a stab at public disclosure and see how that goes. First, the list of UFO's and FWIP's.

*Sahara Sweater
*Venezia Pullover
*Garden Shawl
*Fir Cone Shawl from Folk Shawls
*Via Diagonale bag
*Shedir from theFall 04 Knitty Suprise
*Fetching
*Chicknit's Ribby Cardi
*DNA tank (a hybrid design)
*Pretty Comfy Socks
*Cat Bordhi's Flow Motion Socks from the Fall 06 VK
*Entrelac Socks from Socks, Socks, Socks
*Fibonacci Socks (my own design)
*Twisted Travelling Socks (my own design)
*Log Cabin-inspired blanket from acrylic stash yarn

at least these were the only one's that i could find...there may be more that i didn't uncover in my search. alright, that parts done. now, onto the flashing of the stashing.....

Sock and lace yarns. i have projects in mind for most of the lace weight. the sock yarn stash however, did get a bit away from me. it was all the dyeing that i had been doing, i think. that and the fact that, with sock yarn and lace weight, you can get an entire projects worth of yarn fairly inexpensively (most of the time anyhow).

worsted weight and heavier yarns. i have enough for at least a couple of tops or bigger projects, but i do have a fair amount of one or two skiens of misc. yarns. meh. i forsee a really hideous afgahn in my future...*sob* or maybe one of the One Skien Project books--which is way more uplifting!

a motley assortment of left over yarn bits. mostly sock yarn (cause of my wee feet and short attention span). really, i think that i must secretly be planning some gut-wrentching fair isle creation.

and now, the most mortifying part of my stash--the stuff that i collected when i first started out knitting and didn't know of the wonders of natural fibers...the acrylic stash:
it's in a cedar chest, people. a giant cedar chest full of craptastic, plastic-y red heart, eyelash yarns, fur shit, and the odd skien of something half way decent (ie. the Cotton Ease). i'm so embarrassed by it that i couldn't even take a decent picture. i don't know why i don't donate the bulk of it to Good Will or something. i do have a fair amount of Caron Simply Soft that makes a nice, washable blanket--the Log Cabinish one i'm working on is going to be made of it. i'd burn the rest if not for the toxic fumes.

i am proud to say that i reduced my stash by one skien with the first FO of 2007.
i made myself a new dice bag (told you i wasn't only a knitting geek) out of some Rowan Denim yarn i had gotten a while back to make a pair of baby "jeans" (said baby is now about two...i suck). i made up the pattern as i went and used something called a Woven Stitch out of Barbara Walker's 2nd Stitch Dictionary. i wish the yarn wasn't evil, hand cramping cotton cause i sure would love to make a kick-around sweater out of it--it's marvelous after a run through the washer and dryer.

time for me to fess up to the reason i haven't posted a blog in a while. it's good old-fashioned guilt! as you may recall, i joined the Stash and UFO Bust-along sometime back, ya know, to get the stash and UFO's down to a managable size. i was doing fabulously. i don't buy yarn often, never lied about the size of my stash or hid a yarn purchase. i'm generally pretty restrained when it comes to actually purchasing yarn (browsing yarn stores? that's something else entirely.) i thought that the no-yarn-til-april 15th wouldn't be a problem. i have no explanation, for the the rash of yarn buying i've done. maybe it's the fact that it's been actually wintry here lately, and i didn't have enough wool in my stash for any kt-sized sweaters. maybe it's cause i'm pulling in a steady paycheck and have a little bit more play money. maybe i just went totally frickin' nuts.
First Discretion
since the very first time i knit anything with Malabrigo, i've dreamed of knitting a big ol' sloppy sweater out of it--ya know, the whole grown-up blankie thing. so, this purchase wasn't a totall whim. i snagged up enough natural colored Malabrigo to make the Big Sack Sweater from the first Stitch and Bitch book.

Yarn: Malabrigo merino, natural color way. approx. 925 yds.
Needles: 5mm for hems; 6mm for body
Pattern: Big Sack Sweater from Stitch 'N Bitch: The Knitter's Handbook; size 45.5" size
Notes: i knit this project with a worsted/ heavy worsted yarn instead of a chunky weight. with chuckier knits, i prefer a more flexible fabric, and the Malabrigo on larger needles is exactly what i wanted. i didn't change a thing with the pattern.

Second Discretion

okay, this stuff? totally a whim buy, which is actually really really unusual for me. i came acrossed it because of a post on the Knitty boards in the yarn sale spotter section. it's from the Etsy shop Mystical Creation Yarns. it's the "Enchanting" colorway; 65% wool, 35% silk; it was on mad sale, and i bought 840 yds of it. for what, i have no freakin' clue. i'm open for ideas. it's lovely yarn, anyway.

Third Discretion

RYC Cashsoft DK, in an icy-cool grey shade. i've been checking this particular yarn out at my LYS for a while, and when i saw it at 40% off, i buckled. i didn't have a certain pattern in mind when i picked up the yarn, just that i wanted a heavily textured, fitted sweater. i have decided to make the Weekend Pullover designed by Veronik Avery from the Fall 2006 IK.

so, there you have it, full disclosure. i'm going to go hang my head in shame for a bit.