flyinmysoup

i've been extremely busy as of late, what with school winding down and what not, so i haven't been a very good blogger at all.  soon though, i will be able to entertain you with witty repartee on a more regular basis ("and there was much rejoicing....yeah.")
i got my package from my SP7 today!  whoo hoo!  my very rockin' secret pal was Gina, and boy did i get hooked up.  check out all that goodness!  inside the package was a cutie card, some nummy sounding tea (YEAH TEA!), tasty chocolate treats, some stitch marker looking things (though i could be wrong!), 2 sk of Inca Alpaca, 1 sk of Handpaint Original, a collar/scarf pattern that uses those yarns, and a thing of Knitpicks dye your own wool.  Oh!  and 2 pakages of tamarind drink mix, which i've heard makes a brown, but which i'm very tempted to make into the drink....i've never tried a tamarind flavoured thing before, and i am quite curious.  here's a better pic of the yarn...aren't those colors freakin' gorgeous?!?!?!  i'm especially in love with the handpainted yarn.  it's soooooo pretty. 

i also got a GC for amazon from Gina, and two new additions to my knitting library should be here tomorrow, according to the tracking thing.  i'm finally getting my own copy of Folk Socks and i also picked up Sensational Knitted Socks.  i have to hurry and get my class work finished so i can add to my growing sock collection!

speaking of sock (how'd ya like the segue?) i did end up having to restart my Sockapalooza pals socks.  grrrr.  but, i decided to do them both at once, so i am actually not too far off my predicted schedule.  i just finished picking up the gusset stitches and am starting on the foot part.  the really great thing about my sock pal is that her feet are damn near the same size as mine (read--tiny) so i don't have to contend with any real guess work as far as foot length goes!  whoot!  i am still loving how the yarn is looking in this pattern.  i hope she does too!

i've decided to turn the vest of hugeness into a bag.  i wish that i would have made this decision before i felted it--would have made the sewing part a ton easier!  oh, and for shits and giggles, i thought that i would post a pic of what the finished vest looked like on me when it was all said and done.  better luck next time!

i am finished with this semester!!  all papers have been reworked and submitted, all make-up work has been turned in.  i think that all of the non-knitting i've been up to may pay off with close to a 4.0 GPA for the semester.  finally, i can get back to knitting!!!!

i sent off my Sockapallooza pal's socks today...they get to go over the ocean.  i really hope that they make it to her! 
here the socks are all finished up and done.  i'm pretty pleased with how they turned out.  and for any body that wants to know, you can totally knit the pompatomous socks with the magic loop technique.  whoot!

the sockapallooza socks represented the last thing that i had to knit, so i'm going to be doing some "me" knitting for a while.  i've got the Mamluke socks from Folk Socks in mind.  they are so beautiful. see?  aren't they just gorgeous?  the characters near the toes and heals (not the diamond shapes) spell out Allah, and that's gotten me enamored for some reason (i'm not Muslim, just a generally spiritual gal).  i'm also kicking around Calla from Magknits.  i've got the Svale, i just am sooo sock crazy....

are these not the best???  i was running around, squealing in glee when i opened up the package....Xavier was scared.  my sockapalooza pal Erin dyed the yarn herself; the pattern is the Mermaid socks from Lucy Neatby's Cool Socks, Warm Feet , a book that i may have to pick up now.  i'm so jazzed!  the socks fit well, and they are awesomely colored, and they were made just for me!  how cool is that?  it wasn't all socks in the package though.  it was socks AND chocolate...deeply dark chocolate that i am nibbling on as i type this.  Sock Pal Erin, you rule.

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?? 

i totally could have broken my neck getting this picture for you to see the 1st finished sleeve of the Eris sweater!!  (i had to hop up on a 18" tall stool at the last moments of timer beepage, and i almost went into the shelving behind me...cause i'm graceful as a ballerina).  so, here's the sleeve in its lumpy, unblocked glory.  i didn't work it as long as instructed, which is good cause look how long it ended up anyhow!  i like the length of it, and i'm glad i checked the length when i did.  i basically like how the Main Line feels knit up (i am crossing my fingers that a good washing will loosen up the fabric just a titch, but if not, it'll be alright), but i freakin' hate how it's making my wrists/hands feel!  for a little bit, i was considering going all asymmetrical with one short sleeve and one long, but i think that has passed.  i'm being really good for me, and, though i have approximately 27 projects i'd like to cast on for, i'm trudging through this sweater.  you know about my chronic PI, so this is quite an achievement for me!

in swap news, my Lace Swap pal package was sent out yesterday, and is heading northernly from where i am (see, it's a little clue since the revealing is soooo close!).  i hope it gets there all unscathed and whatnot.

this weekend involved running around to 3 different LYS.  mmmmm.  G and i finally got to check out Sheep Street Fibers.  It's a lovely shop, and i really wish that my wheel wasn't being a shithead, cause there was soooo many different spinning fibers there!  silk hankies, merino top dyed lovely jewel tones, cashmere, merino/silk blends...oh, it made me dizzy!  i resisted temptation, listened to the reasonable voice in my head saying "um...your wheel's all janky.  maybe you should just get some yarn..."  and i did that.  i picked up 2 skiens of Nature Spun Worsted in Coffee Bean and Garland for mittens (more on those in a second). 
then, we went to Stitches & Scones.  oh, i love that store.  we picked up one of their bags--and what a great bag it is--zipper pockets, big enough for a sweater in progress--that gives us a 10% discount every time we shop there.  how cool is that?  i also picked up a set of Bryspun DPN's (i love the Bryspun needles and their scoopy little tips) and a pair of 9 mm, 47" long Addis to use with mobius strip things.  i finally broke down and bought a skein of Malabrigo merino.  the colorway i picked at first confused me--it's not really of colors i normally would chose--then i looked at it all wound into a ball and it hit me:  it lookes exactly like autumn leaves!  autumn is my most favorite season, and i'm hard-core gunning for it to get here!  i think the yarn was my plea to mother nature to hurry it up!  i'm planning on making a felted bowl or bag or something with this.  it's really lovely yarn, and i sorta want to buy enough to make a little nest out of...*sigh*
i got some new beadworking tools, and i made up a few stitch markers on Sunday.  i love the subversive set on the bottom--they make me giggle so. 
i really needed a break from Eris, so i decided to make these awesome squirrel & oak mittens from Hello Yarn.  i got some Dale Falk at Mass Ave on Friday, cast on and finished mitten 1 in about 3.5 hours (whoot!) green and chocolate brown (they're gonna be "thin minttnes" hahaha).  blocked it out and all that, and CRAP!!!  i don't make mittens, so i'm not terribly familiar with the sizing and what not.  and, as small as i am, i have freakishly long fingers (i normally can't wear store bought gloves and such cause the fingers are always waaaayyy too short).  these factors combined to make a tiny weeny mitten that doesn't fit me at all!  and it looked so good!  i picked up some worsted weight yarn (above mentioned Nature Spun) and some 3.5 mm DPN's, and i think that that will make a mitten that i'll actually be able to wear.  i'm also going to change the pattern to make the thumb with a gore.
my Lace Swap pal let me know that my package is in the post!  it's coming from Australia!  how cool is that????  i'm super jazzed!

lookie, lookie look what came for me today!!!!!!  (actually, it got here on saturday, but G and i were running errands, so i had the nice postman re-deliver it).  it's my Lace Swap package--all the way from Corrie (and Keira!) in australia!  i dashed back to the apartment to rip it open and see what was inside.  and mmm..see?  two different (and very, very tasty) types of Lindt chocolate--milk chocolate and mint and dark chocolate w/orange flavor and almond bits.  letter beads and two adorable stitch markers (one says "kooky" and the other "lace") cutie little stickers, miriam Felton's Lightweight Mountain Peaks Shawl (i've been drooling over this pattern for a bit, so i'm sooo excitted to have it in my possesion now!), and my favorite part, some beautiful laceweight yarn from Filatura di Crosa called Centolavaggi.  the color is so very perfect!  it's a winey, marroony red (one of my most favorites).  i've been squishing and petting the yarn since i freed it from it's padded envelope prison.  i can hardly wait to cast on with it!

thank you corrie!!! you rule!!!!!

driven by the desire to work on something that wasn't the Ribby Cardi (there was a dyelot thing, but that's another post) plus the fact that i joined Lacevember i picked the Heere Be Dragon Shawl back up. oh, and the second season of Lost might have had a bit to do with it also. anyhow. after tinking back the same damned two rows about nine times, counting and recounting, and then counting again, i finally found where my mistake was (i think). even if i didn't find the actual mistake, i figured out something to fix it up enough that i could move on, so at this point, i couldn't give a shit if what i did was actually "fixing". but i digress. here's a pic of the progress through the second set of charts:

there was a bit of a hitch in my giddyup around rows 150-151. in these rows, the pattern uses a combination of floating twisted, traveling stitches and what is called the "wing stitch". a tip to anyone attempting the HBDS: when you get to theses rows, remember to always work the floating twists on the same two stitches. i found that it was helpful to move all the stitches that need to be worked out of order BEFORE i actually worked them; just moving them from the left hand needle to the right hand needle, switching the order as called for, and then moving them all back to the LH needle to actually work them. after i started doing this, the rows with traveling floating twists were much less a pain in the butt.

in terms of percent finished on the HBDS, i made a little chart up. this is where i'm at so far:
the next two sets of charts are going to be very interesting to work, not because they're going to be terribly difficult of anything, but because the actual charts are going to take up so much room. each of the rectangles is an 8" by 11" piece of paper printed the long way, of course. i haven't come up with a really great idea on how to handle this. we'll just have to see, i suppose!

The coordinators over at the Lacevember KAL posted this little questionaire, so here you go:

The knitting questions, or the usual suspects

How long have you been knitting?
 i've been knitting for around 3 years now.

How did you learn to knit?
 i knew how to crochet, but i wanted to make socks and couldn't find a crochet pattern for them.  i picked up a copy of Knit It! magazine that had an article on knitting socks in it and learned from that.  yep, my very first project was a pair of socks.

Favorite thing about knitting?
there are a ton of things that i love about knitting, but i think that my favorite is the feeling of accomplishment that floods over me when i finish up a really gorgeous project.

How long have you been knitting lace?
i finished my first lace object (a stole from Lionbrand) in October of 2004.

Favorite thing about knitting lace.
BLOCKING!!!  i love the magic trick of going from something that looks like a wad of yarn to a beautiful piece of finished lace.

The yarn questions, or flash your stash

Favorite lace yarn?
Jade Sapphire's Lacey Lamb--it's terribly fine, but it feels like butter.  it makes every other laceweight i've ever used feel like steel wool in comparison.

variegated or solids for shawls?
as a rule, i do NOT like variegated yarn for shawls--i feel that they tend to obscure the lace work.  now, the yarn that i'm using for the HBDS is variegated, but quite tonal, and the color changes are very subtle.

Favorite lace color?
i love my lace in jewel tones.  this (and the variegated yarn answer) isn't true of lace socks--anything goes with socks.


Technique, or show us your skillz

Circs or straights?
cirs all the way. 

Favorite lace knitting trick?
taping the pattern to a cookie sheet and using it as a magnet board.  adding lifelines with interchangeable needle sets like the Boye or knitpicks set is a snap if you thread the lifeline yarn through the hole used tightening the needle with the little key-thing.


Lifelines? If so with what?
i don't use them like i should--i'm sorta renegade with the lace knitting.  but, on the occasion that i do use them, i use Aunt Lydia's Crochet Cotton--is smooth and skinny.

Fancy blocking wires, or just sewing pins stuck in your carpet?
i've got my eyes out for some blocking wires, buy until then, i use lengths of mercanized cotton in place of wires--it works fairly well.


Pattern, or can you follow directions

shawls or lacey items?
i love love love shawls.  i think that it's the romance around them.

triangle, rectangle, or circular shawls?
they all have their merits.  i think that rectangular shawls may be the most easily worn.

Charts or printed instructions?
CHARTS CHARTS CHARTS CHARTS (can you tell i've got a preference?)

Favorite lace you've knit?
 i think that the HBDS  wins this one, even if i'm not 100% finished with it yet.

Favorite lace you want to knit?
i've been checking out the Wedding Ring Shawl from Heirloom Knitting.  lordy, it would be a lot of work, but how gorgeous is it?

Just Fun, yup that's right, just for fun

Favorite jelly belly flavor?
Juicy Pear

Tell me everything you know about Eric the Red.....
He was a pagan; he had red hair; he was the father of Leif, first viking to explore Vinland in NA...

Coke, classic or with lime?
eh, if one of these two is my only choice, then with limey goodness

Holiday carols, sing along, or wish they would be banned from all public airwaves?
Sing along...loudly...with total abandon...even in the grocery store

What is the definition of irony?
i always though O'Henry's Gift of the Magi to be the perfect example

How many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie roll pop?
i actually tested this when i was a much younger kate.  iirc, it was some where around 114 or so

Why is my cat always puking in front of my son's bedroom door?
the cat has a sick sense of humor

What is your superhero power?
static electricity control and empathy

If the laundry is 9 foot by 11 foot (just dreaming, that's a big laundry room), and the walls are 8 feet tall, and you are going to tile the entire room in tiles that are 3 inches by 5 inches, what color should those tiles be?
the color that is on sale...that's a lot of tile.

What's for dinner tonight?
left-overs and oven roasted veggies

What is clogging my children's bathtub drain?
maybe you should talk to the cat....

Here is the question to be answered for the third Lacevember contest:
What are your ideal lace making conditions?

first, there are the constants: good lighting is a must. good, pointy needles (circs) are essential. and coffee or tea. then again, i sorta always have coffee or tea, handy, so... also, a chart and some type of chart holder. even if the pattern was written out, i'll go through and chart it. i don't loathe written lace patterns, but charts are just soooo much easier for me to work from.

the other conditions really depend on the difficulty of the pattern. is it a crazy-complex chart that changes every row? then i MUST have a highlighter to mark off the completed chart rows. if it's a repeating pattern, then i need my magnets and cookie sheet set up. i don't like knitting to music, but i love to have the a dvd playing or listen to streaming old time radio programs.

i think that's about it!