flyinmysoup

this brilliant idea came from one of the girls at the Bo Peep's knit night. we were talking about reading and knitting at the same time and she mentioned wanting a music stand to hold the book with.  there are music stands in my apartment people (cause the fella plays the....TUBA?!?!?!). i ran home to give it a whirl, and it works beautifully.

i am quickly becoming an advocate for knitting while studying. i'm back to classes after a bit of a hiatus, and i've been knitting while reading the class work and what not. it helps me focus so much. i'm honestly a little amazed.

here's my plain old stockinette stitch toe up sock-studying. i traded in the Dale Falk i'd picked up for the failed Norwegian Stockings *sob* for a couple skeins of Dale Baby Ull...mmm. it';s a delicious yarn, i tell you. i';m going to have to pick some more up i can already tell! i so want to love toe-up socks, but i can't find a heel that doesn't drive me mad. this version is a bit better than the short row heel with no heel flap, but i don't know...anyone have a toe up pattern with a heel more like a cuff down version? gah.

my god, i've been studying off my fool little head lately.  i'm determined to NOT fail this semester.  gah.  i've been drinking alarming amounts of coffee (which in it self is alarming as i'm an atleast pot-o-day girl) and i'm almost out of yummy kinds...and down to cheap-o plastic flavored coffee.  it was on clearance 'cause i guess that "Hint of Plastic" wasn't a huge seller. grrr.

recall mentions of a "secret knitting project"?  it is no longer a secret, friends.  first, let me state that while i'm reall pretty good at keeping most secrets, that doesn't include anything about gifts.  i love to give gifts and it's really hard for me to not blurt out "IGOTYOUA_____!!!!!!!"  to make it worse, i like to not wait til the last minute to get gifts for any occasion...HAHAHAHHAHA!!!!  what a freakin' combo.  i digress...so, i've been working on the Manly Sweater from SnB for, oh, ever and the fella had finally given up hope of ever actually receiving said sweater (cause, baby, is this damn thing BORING to knit).  sweetie that i am, i decided to finish up the stupid boring sweater for his birthday, which is the 27th.  i've been secretly knitting on it during the day while he was at work, but, what with studying and what not, it became painfully evident to me last night that, short of causing my wrists permanent damage (not for this sweater) there was no way in sweet Hades that this would be finished in time.  so i caved and told him...that way i can work on it at night while i'm not trying to compose papers about religious diversity in 20th century america.  which rocks.  (ps.  that's the kitchen not the bathroom floor...guin :D )

my Mindless Study Socks (which is what i've decided to call them cause i get to name the "pattern") are almost done!  i am very loving the fit and feel.  and i'm soo proud of the length of the cuff.  normally, i become so obsessed to wear the socks i'm working on that i make tiny shortie cuffs, but look!  see how long it is????  half way to my knee (which isn't all that far from my foot).  these are the most unexcitting, plain socks i've ever made...they aren't the color of clown vomit, or eye searing green or all lacey...but  i freaking adore them.  i'm in love with the Baby Ull, that's it.  (should i be concerned that my legs are almost the exact same color as that wall????)

What?
i should be reading about the rise of Buddhism in America during the 20th century...but i haven't shown off my finished socks yet!  so, without furthur ado, may i present pair 2 of 2006:

Yarn: Baby Ull, 1 1/2 skiens; a charcol grey.
Needles: size 1 Addis...Magic Loop BABY
Start/ Finish: 13 january/ 22 january
Pattern:  none...just a generic toe up sock
Notes:  have i mentioned that i love this yarn?  i want to marry it.  i think i need to buy the yarn store out and make myself complete sets of clothing from Baby Ull.  another note, look at those loooooong cuffs!  i'm so proud.

and because i can't keep my hands still even for half an hour, i cast on for pair #3 for the year.  dig this--i stole the yarn from the fella's tinnie little stash.  it's Lion Brand Magic Stripe again, but it's not the Clown Puke colorway, so i've not a clue what it's called.  these guys have a short row toe, you know, to mix it up a bit.

I've plunked down my $3 for the Mystery Shawl-a-long 3 .  i had fun with the last one and figured "hell, why not?" 

Okay, some non-knitting content.  feel free to bail out if you wish.  you've been warned!
have any of you seen Brokeback Mountain?  i saw this almost 2 weeks ago with a dear friend of mine, and i am still being tortured by it....tortured in the very best way possible.  i read the story sometime before seeing the movie and cried my fool head off about it.  the movie was a fabulous adaptation (actually, the best adaptation that i think i've ever seen).  okay, that's all...i'm still pretty speechless about it.

Um, yeah, i edited this cause i was reading the nice comments everyone had left and i thought to myself
"Self, 4 days seems wrong...didn't it take you longer than 4 days to knit those socks???  it must have, cause that's just crazy talk..."
so, i checked, and i'd misread the 13 as 18....i'm overcome with shame....

i'm trying to keep up on the school work (i take my classes online, so i have to police myself) so that means not so much blogging.  what i lack in quantity i will try to make up for in quality...at least that's the plan.  so, i've been knitting socks like an insane person with six feet to clothe.  right now, i have 4 different pairs on the needles.  they are just so easy and portable, and some of them i can work on while reading for school. these lovelies are from a *free* pattern called Pretty Comfy Socks and i am making them in blazing fuchia Cascade Fixation.  i like the pattern, and i love Fixation, so it's really a win win situation for me.  they are a suprisingly easy knit.  low effort, high impact...gotta love it.

this little beauty is the beginnings of the Gull Wing sock from the book Socks Socks Socks   i'm using Lorna's Laces Shepard Sock in the Grey's Corner colorway.  i'm hoping that the pattern is correct and that i will indeed be able to pull off an entire pair of socks with but 1 skien...i've got tiny feet.  cross your fingers.

in other sock news, i think i've decided what pattern i'm going to use for my Sockapalloza pal.  i'm leaning towards Pomatomus from the current knitty.  i feel pressure to make something really sensational cause my pal has been published.  plus, i really love these socks.  i'm not sure what yarn i'm going to use, but i think that i want to dye it myself.  i'm sorta going for a whole aquatic/ oceanic theme and i think i can make yarn to match that.

on completely non knittng news, my writing teacher approved my research paper topic.  i am going to be writing about the use of yoga and spirituality to control depression.  i'm so jazzed.  anyone out in blog land have any thoughts on this subject, i'd love to hear them!

i have three completed socks...3 different completed socks.  as of yet, i'm not worried about SSS...i did all the socks for different reasons and they are knit at different areas in my tiny little apartment, so.... here is the first of the Gull Wing socks.  i decided to work them toe up as opposed to the written toe down instructions cause i wanted to see if i could make a pair out of one skein of Lorna's Laces.  so far so good. they aren't going to be very long, but that's alright by me.  i did "discover" the tubular bind off for 1x1 ribbing, and i l-o-v-e how it looks.  check it out.  i'm just jazz cause this is the first CO that i've found for a toe up sock that doesn't look sorta wonky.  it's all clean and rounded and beautiful.. ahhhhh.

here is the first of the finished BS socks (blue stripe = BS...not as good as clown puke, but it'll do).  if you recall, i started these socks together on 1 Magic Loop needle.  well, i hated it and wanted it to die, so i just switched to one at a time.  the second sock is almost done--just miles and miles 3" of 2x2 ribbing to finish.  i wanted to practice restraint and make them long enough to wear with a pair of boots i own, so this ribbing length is my own damned fault.
and now, the first of the Pretty comfy socks.  and that name is completely accurate.  i love how this guy looks and the Fixation makes it so he hugs my foot in a tender embrace...or something. 

have a good day.

lookie lookie, a complete pair of socks for ME!!!

i loved this pattern so much (and had another single skien of the LL's) so i started these puppies: the FLAMING gull wing socks (the colorway is called Flames or something close).  i did a couple of alterations to the previous pattern cause the socks weren't as snug as i would have liked.  and, i'll definetly be using a different heal...i hate the one that i used on the first pair.  ps.  i, a die hard Magic Loop fan, am absolutly loving using shortie DPN's.  i want to try some even shorter ones (these are 6" pony pearls).

i think that i may be quite addicted to the dyeing of the yarn--i'll have to try selling some soon to support the habit, i think (any inforation on that?)  anywho, two more dye jobs.

here they are.  the blue-y one is what i've decided to use for my sock pals socks, instead of the first one i dyed.  this is way more subtle, but i really like how it turned out.  i used a different yarn than i have been dyeing--it's Wildefoote sock yarn, started out in Camel color.  the other was a light mint green Baby Ull.  By the way, everything that i've been dyeing lately, except for the wildefoote, has been Dale Baby Ull, and i've been using Wilton Dyes for the color. 

(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:

i've finished the first Mamluke Sock!  wow...that was fast.  i think that i must be making up for all the non-knitting i've been doing!  i love how this sock looks...it's a tiny bit big around the ball of my foot but not too bad.  i'm using some Baby Ull in navy and Knitpicks dye your own merino sock yarn.  i loved the color combonation and figured that these socks will be worth having to hand wash.  the heel on these is kind of odd...it doesn't look or feel like an entire heel (it's the stripy part).  i'm really please how quickly this first one went--here's to hoping that Second Sock Syndrome doesn't strike in the completion of the second.  i think that i'm smitten enough with the pattern that it shouldn't be a problem. 

in other, non knitting news, i picked up some georgeous roses at Trader Joe's
tonight.  i've been trying to curb my flower-buying tendancies, but these babies were just to fabulous to pass by. 

so, after finishing up my final paper for this semester, i had absolutly no desire whatsoever to come near a computer for a couple of weeks.  this brief techno-allergy was hell for the blogging but alright for the knitting.  (ps.  i ended up with a 4.0!  my yoga paper got a 95%!!!  whoot!)  First, some sock (suprise, frickin' suprise):

here is my almost finished sock based on the Curusoe pattern from knitty.  i am absolutely in love with how this yarn (hand dyed by moi) looks in the slip stitch pattern. 

and now for some lace (cause apparently i've got a thing for really fine yarn):

this is a Flower Basket Shawl from IK.  i'm making it in the Knitpicks color your own lace weight (i dyed it this strange tan...it's alright).  a good friend of mine will be receiving this as a gift (she's great to give hand made gifts to--she's always sooo appreciative).  i'm tweaking the pattern a bit (i think) by adding on a knitted on border.  i don't really like the border as written, so we'll see.

final pick of the day, the start of my Fir Cone shawl from the Folk Shawl book.  it's not much too look at yet, but the yarn, oh holy mary mother of god, the yarn.  this is Lacey Lamb and it is the softest shit i've ever worked with.  it makes the Knitpicks Merino that i'm working with feel like steel wool.  it's freakin' brilliant.

i've also nearly finished the Lily stole (pics of it would serve almost no purpose so why waste the bandwidth?).  i've got 5 more repeats and the edging then it's done.  it soooooooooo boring now, though!  and it sucks cause it's not utterly mindless, as i have to pay attention to all the damned nupps (I HATE THEM).  gah.  the sooner i get crackin' on it the sooner it'll be OFF my freakin' size 4 bryspuns and i can move on to other lacey things.

(you should sing the title, ya know, for the full effect) 
so, after a weird coincidence of talking about Navajo plying and then, that very day, coming across a Spin-Off that contained a how to article on the technique, i broke out the spinning wheel.  gah. gah i say!  because i spun up a metric crap load of this cheap-but-pretty roving i scored into this fairly decent set of singles.  gah because my wheel, which i got for absolutely free and, therefore can not complain about too much, has such a severe wobble that i can't ply the singles into a 2 ply yarn.  the wheel was home made, i'm fairly certain, and not all that well put together.  the uprights that hold the actual wheel part in place where first glued in, then screwed in, and finally, cause obviously something somewhere wiggled, NAILED in.  consequently, repair is going to be a pain in the ass.  i am now faced with deciding if i should just go ahead and knit the singles into some biased lacey thing or to wait until a time when i can get a new wheel (le sigh) which will probably be in years, not months or weeks.  so, that is why the gah.

in happy, better news, i've started on an amalgamation of the Calla tank from magknits and another tank designed by Squeaky Weasels that uses a brillian DNA cable.  i didn't really like the all around cabley-ness of the Calla tank, and imho, Squeaky Weasels' tank was just too busy with the lacey lace panels and the DNA cable.  so, this is what i've got so far (forgive the picture, it's a bit bright).  what i really wanted to do, i couldn't find the lace pattern for, and being a lazy woman, i just said "screw it! i'll make do".  so, i kept the two smaller side cables from the Calla pattern, used the DNA cable in place of the center cable, and changed the back to plain stockinette with eyelet columns (a picture when i'm done cause really, it's wicked boring).  what i had envisioned what a very simple lace that almost mimicked the DNA cable.  when i have more gumption, i might have to plot that out cause i don't think it would be too difficult. 

now the reading part.  i try to make a "summer" reading list each year.  this year, i'm running behind and haven't even started my list, though i have been a reading fool.  the only concrete goal is to read the Narnia Chronicles (so i can return them to Megs who i've been borrowing them from for, oh, a year and a half).  this isn't going to do diddly squat for my summer after next week (it's taking me like 3 hours to read each of the first two books, and i can't imagine that the rest will be much different).  so, dear blog readers, how about some suggestions?  i'll read just about anything. 

i love knitting lace.  the process of having a icky-poo wad of yarn like this:
add some water, a little wool wash (cause really, who wants all that xavier fur wrapped about their shoulders?!?), some string and an metric tonne of pins and you end up with something that looks like this.  holy crap it's magically delicious! 

Details
Pattern: Flower Basket Shawl from IK fall 04 issue
Yarn:  Knitpicks Dye Your Own lace-weight Merino, dyed by moi
Needles:  Bryspun circs (love love love for lace), size 7
Start/Finish:  24 May/ 6 June 2006
Notes:  i added two repeats to the main pattern to make less of shawlette.  i also added a couple of rows of gater stitch to the edges instead of leaving it in stockinette.  i like the addition and will use it on future Flower Basket Shawls (and there will be more--this is such an easy-peasy pattern and it produces such a lovely shawl)

in WIP news, i started a second Via Diagonale bag.  dig the bright, happy colors.  aren't they great?  this is fun tv watching knitting (which is good because i think the fella and i are going to have to have a Lost marathon pretty soon).

just for you, dear reader of my little slice o' blogland, a WIP pic of the Garden Shawl: 
yeah, and i appologize for taking a picture of lace on my insanly stripey sheets, but you get the idea.  and by the by, this thing is going to be huge.  this is just the pattern through round 55 (i think) and it's already about 16" across.  i think that it won't be so much a shawl on me as a really pretty blanket.

have you seen the new yarns at knitpicks?  they've added 9 that are shown.  they have also, however, added to their Dye-your-own line (now called "Bare"). this could be dangerous!

speaking of ease, a new Perdita for your viewing pleasure.  i used silver beads this time, and i sure do like how they look.  OH!  and the .50 three packs of the Pearl Cotton are not, i repeat, ARE NOT a myth!  if you have a Michael's near you, go and check it out.  not all the 3 pks are that cheap, some are $1 and a couple are $2.  but, wow!  i'm going to have yarn for 2227 of these babies!

i cast on for the Eris Cardi yesterday.  I've completed the neck portion thus far.  here; take a look-see: 
doesn't it look like a fancy toilet seat cover?  i ended up having to use 3.25 mm needles to reach the 8 rows/in gauge called for, and boy did that blow!  i don't think that i would go down that small even if i were to knit socks with the Main Line.  the yarn is 80% cotton and 20% wool, so it's still really inelastic.  i'm really glad to be done with this part.  from what i can tell, the collar size is just right.  i've decided to give adding short-rows to this pattern a try.  that way, i won't have to make a larger size just for the girls.  i prefer my knits to be more on the fitted side of the tracks being a curvy shorty type o' gal.  hugemongus sweaters, while cozy, make me look pretty ridiculous i tend to think! 

alright, let me first explain something about me--i'm a little crazy when it comes to how food appeals to the eyes not just the taste buds.  if something doesn't look good to me, it just doesn't taste as good.  so, you have to imagine the squeals of joy i let out at the market when i stumbled upon these: 
oh...my....sweet....lord.  yes.  that is purple cauliflower.  the brociflower isn't new, but it is a lovely shade of green.  i cannot wait to have these on a plate together. 

Eris is coming along slow but steady.  instead of twisted increases like these, i chose to use plain old increases.  i like the look better, and they are much easier on my poor little hands.  if i had made this in a more elastic fiber, i think that i'd probably have it all done by now.  if i make another one of these, i'll use a DK weight wool.  cause, seriously, i'm not sure why this pattern specifies Worsted Weight when it calls for a gauge of 5.5/8rows and 5/7rows.  i didn't really think it out before starting, and i can't figure it out now.  oh well, here's where she's at so far:

don't mind my wandering eyes....i thought i saw a bug on the wall, and i liked how the sweater looked in this pic, so i used it even though i look sorta vapid.

i make no secret about the fact that i suffer from PI (project infidelity).  but, after reorganizing my knitting space, i realized just how bad it's gotten.  sure, there are the projects that i started, hated, and just haven't got around to frogging yet (oh, i hatehatehate you, MANLY SWEATER of SUCK).  there are the ones that i still love and work on, all be it in little spurts--most often, shawls fall into this category.  these aren't surprising, and i'm not a bit ashamed of the PI.  at least i wasn't.  that all changed when i stumbled upon a new category of WIP's--the FWIP's or Forgotten Works in Progress.  i completely spaced that these were on needles.  (in one case, i even spaced the needles!)  Exhibit A:  the modified DNA/Calla hybrid.  i was so jazzed about this when i started.  i love the yarn, the pattern is geeky on at least 2 levels, and it's not that hard of a knit.  yep, totally slipped my mind.  i didn't even remember that i owned the size 5 circs that this baby is on, that's how far removed from thought it was.

Exhibit B:  the second Via Diagonale bag.  this hasn't even been on the needles all that long, and i was retarded for it when i started.  i can't explain it. *ETA* um, yeah, and it's on my progress bar thing...god, i suck.

Exhibit C:  Kilt Hose from the book Folk Socks.  i had such a hard-on to knit these that i went out and bought additional yarn to make sure i had enough.  like, praying the LYS still had the same dyelot and everything. 

what scares me most is that i'd put money on there being other FWIP's lurking about that i just haven't stumbled on.   i'm sure that i can't be the only knitter that this has happened to, and thus i propose adding FWIP to common knitting acronyms.  spread the word!

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!

i have four birthdays to try and get ready for this month....gah.  it's almost as bad as christmas (which is only 110 days off, btw--eeek!).  the skully deep v-neck for b-day 1 is coming along alright.  i've finished up one repeat of the pattern, and i'm fairly certain that the gauge is going to be just dandy.  i'm love love loving how this looks so far.  this will be the first large scale piece that i've given as a gift--well, one that has to fit (not like a shawl), and i'm sooo nervous about it.  either way, it'll look good, i suppose!
the gift for b-day #2 will be the boring and grey alpaca hat.  i made one already, but i wasn't really happy with how it turned out (i think that i'm going to use a swirling decrease pattern).  i'm not overly worried about timing on this one, cause seriously, a little hat doesn't take hardly anytime at all.
my sister-in-law's birthday is on Mexican Independence day, and i picked up some more delicious Malabrigo to make her some felted lovelies.  i also grabbed up another skein of the autumny colorway that i used for the felted mobius basket for a bag for me...cause i tend to get a little antsy just knitting gifts.  is anyone else like this?  i think that it has to do with being nervous about how the gift will be received.  i know that i'll be thrilled when i finish something for myself so i usually don't have to worry.  gahh..
i also need to think up something to make my mama (who has birthday 4 at the end of the month).  any thought? 

so i think that i've gotten things here fixed up enough that i can post an actual blog entry--not just a test one to see how the templates behave. there are still a few wrinkles that i want to iron out, but for now, i'm feeling fair to middlin' about how this new blog is looking. it's been an adventure, let me tell you, and i'm definetly getting my money's worth out of the web page design class i took a couple of years ago! (and i thought i'd never need it...sheesh)

things have not been progressing on the HBDS. i attempted to do a row here and there, ya know, for a break between tweaking my CSS, and i think that it was all just too much for the brain. as of right now, i've cocked it up somehow...but it's that elusive sort of somehow that i can't really suss out. add to that the fact that i've come down with sinus ickiness (thank you, indiana weather). the fact that i've been running a temperature and have been slightly more loopy than normal isn't really all that condusive to a complex twisted stitch pattern shawl with a chart you have to watch like a hawk. *sob*
to satiate my need to knit, and the desire to not pull out my hair in frustration, i've started on the Flow Motion Socks (Cat Bohrdi's design) from the Fall 2006 VK. they're knit with a double strand of sock yarn, so they are working up really quickly. (of course, working something up on 6's instead of 0's will do that). i love the shaping on these--there are on side gussets; all the shaping takes place in a wedge on the top of the foot. it's nice to try new techniques in old favorites.

(sorry there are no pictures...that's one of the wrinkles set to be ironed!)

i still haven't gathered up the strength to pick the HBDS back up yet. somewhere in the back of my mind, i just know that i'm going to end up having to tink back row upon row of knitting. and at that thought, i die inside just a little bit. i'm resisting the urge in me that wants me to just make a stitch and be done with all the crazy scouring of the pattern, trying to find where i went astray. cause i just know that if i do that, a few rows down the line, the addition will be as glaringly obvious as a bright pink neon sign. (you can't convince me other wise)
so, to keep myself busy (and so i quit thinking about the HBDS) i started the Flow Motion socks Cat Borhdi contributed to the Fall 06 VK. i'm all a-twitter about the shaping used. here is a picture of it: can you see how the stitches flow out from the one yo in the top center of the foot? isn't that great? (it should maybe worry me a bit that i'm so very excited about this, but to paraphrase the Yarn Harlot, i could be this excited about cabbage, right? minus points for recalling how excited i was about purple cauliflower...)

the fella and i took a trip to one of the LYS yesterday, and i found one of the most stunning examples of overpricing that i have ever encountered in my yarn-buying carrer. it seems that the owner has finally gotten some laceweight in (i have been on her for awhile to do this), so at first i was jazzed. then i looked at the price tag: Merino Lace yarn from Skacel for $28.99. i couldn't believe it--more than double the MSRP. now, i know that LYS will often charge a bit more for yarn, but i think that this is just about the most ludicrous example that i've ever seen. so, we hightailed it outta there before she remebered that i'd asked her, on several different occasions, to get in some laceweight!

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.

i've finished up the sleeves for my sister's Ribby Cardi. i went ahead and did them both at the same time even though i really really hate doing that. i figure that matching sleeves might be more important. and the match to a t, let me tell you. want an extremely exciting picture? here you go: i've never done raglan shaping piecemeal before, and i gotta say, the sleeves look extra strange to me. they certainly get pointy! i know that a lot of knitters don't like the process of seaming up their work, but i'm a freak and i adore it...i'm looking forward to the miles of mattress stitch that i will have to do to finish this cardi. i could easily work most of it in the round, but then i would miss the pleasure using the big ol' yarn needle. by the way, i figured out how to knit and purl backwards at the top of these sleeves. (i knew how to knit, the purl had, up 'til now, escaped me). i got tired of flipping the pieces over to work a measly 10 stitches. the dog was not excited with my new found skill, and he huffed audibly when i woke him up to show him.

last post, i mentioned that i had encountered a dyelot problem with the Ribby Cardi. let me expound on that a bit. i bought the yarn at the Michael's yarn sale where it was super cheap. i've not had a lot of buying-yarn-at-Michael's experience, and i had apparently blocked from my memory digging through the bins of yarn trying to find sufficient amount of yarn of the same dyelot. (looking back, i remember it..grrr). anywho, the blue yarn that i decided on for my sister's cardi--the main body color, incidentally--was stocked in at least three separate dyelots, none of which contained enough yarn separately for the project, of course. so, i had to get one lone skein of a different dyelot. (she's rather particular about colors she will wear). i decided that i would just work from two skeins alternating between them to minimize the difference. HA!! see the stripping? it's not supposed to be stripped! GAH!!! at this point, of opted for the "fuck it" method of fixing this. the sweater will still look nice made up, all be it stripy and nuts--at least on the back. this little incident slowed down the progress a bit. that and the fact that said sweater has been delegated to the "knitting while i watch streaming tv shows" area. it doesn't get knit on all that much lately.
in happier news, i picked up a set of the Susan Bates double pointed needles from Joann's (yeah 40% off coupon). i've been lusting after them for a while simply because they contain a set of 1.5mm and 1.75mm needles. i haven't a clue why i want to knit socks on these, but i really really do. here's a pic comparing the 1.5mm needle (the blue one) with a 2.25mm Britany needle isn't that a trip?
on the HBDS front, chart set 3 is going swimmingly.
i've got about half of the set to go, and i've not yet encountered any real problems. thanks to everyone for your nice comments on the HBDS so far--i love the encouragement and hope that i can help at least someone from experiencing the same stumbling spots that i have by keeping up the play by play. keep up the commenting. it really helps to have a participative audience!

it's finally getting reliably chilly here in indiana. (for those who don't know about indiana weather, here's the best description of it i've ever heard--if you don't like the weather, wait a day...it'll change)
anyhow, my head was freezing the other night when i took xavier out, so i decide that i would whip up a hat. i hate wearing hats, but they do help an awful lot with the whole retention of body heat thing, so i used some of the Malabrigo that i'd been hoarding (1.75 oz of it), 5mm needles, and the Simple Roll Brim Hat pattern out of Last-Minute Knitted Gifts and made this pretty hat to keep myself toasty. i still think i look terribly goonie in it, but at least it's a pretty colorway!

after all the lace knitting that i've been up to, i decided that i'd been neglecting my poor little feet. that and the fact that i prefer wearing hand-made socks to work (i stand for hours and hours) led to an outbreak of socks here. this is the Entrelac Sock from the Socks Socks Socks book, made with the parrot yarn i picked up the other day (the toe is Baby Ull from Dale). i have to admit, i'm lovin' the entrelac. it's interesting enough that i don't want to stab my eyes out with the needles, but it's intuitive enough that i can work on these socks whilst i watch a DVD. i started out on DPN's and switched to the Magic Loop, which made a hell of a difference in the ease of working the pattern. i'm interested in trying the technique out with a yarn that has longer color repeats so it'll make the different blocks all one solid color. this first sock is working up suprisingly fast--i just hope that i can keep momentum through the end of the second one!

this second sock represents a milestone for me. it's my first sock pattern that i designed that wasn't just stockinette. in the past, i've sort of been a jerk about different sock designs. (maybe not out loud or in writing, but definetly in my head). socks have such an easy, basic pattern, it doesn't seem like much goes into making up a sock that uses a stitch pattern instead of stockinette. now, i don't think these guys are going to be anything close to a fabulous work of genius, but i did figure out the math for the pattern repeat! the stitch pattern is from Barbara Walker's second stitch treasury, and i like how it's looking so far. it's a twisted traveling stitch, so i think that it looks pretty nice with the hand painted yarn (Artyarns Super Merino). the sock so far is a great in the car pattern.

i've made an executive decision to not kill myself with the knitting of yuletime presents this year. i'm still going to try and get the sweater i'm working on for my sister done, but i think that's going to be that. i just get so frustrated with it all in the end.

remember my broken 2.25mm Britany needle? i got the replacement. let me say, the people at Britany rock cause they sent me not one but FOUR needles! how freakin' cool is that? i could knit with four, save back two others, and still have two left for pokin' things with. RULE!
i've been seized with the need to make the Venezia Pullover from the Winter 06 IK. now, i rarely use the called for yarn in a pattern--mostly cause it always seems that i can find a substitute that is cheaper. i don't want to try and swing the $100 or so to use the Jamieson's Spindrift yarn Eunny used, so i'm thinking of Knitpick's palette. the problem is that, for a yarn named "palette," this stuff doesn't have the range of colors that the Spindrift does. i played with the photoshop and available colors, and came up with a couple of possibilities:

here's number one. it is quite similar to number two (the greens are switched around is all).

i like both of these, but between the two, i'm leaning toward the second choice. and here's yet another choice..same colors for the scrolly parts...

so, now it's your turn to give your feed back. what do you, dear blog reader, think of these combos? would you do something different? let me know.

christmas didn't bring with it the huge wave of freak-out followed by the lull of every gift finished and given cause i didn't give one knitted gift this year. while this was quite a load off for me, i sort of like the feeling of "whew! finally i can knit something for myself!" so, i've been slogging away at a couple of pairs of previously blogged-about socks. the entrelac socks are coming along okay. i still love the parrot yarn, the actual technique is pretty jazzy (i never thought i would be so proficient at knitting backwards), and they fit (so far) reasonably well--can you hear the "but" coming? BUT thet heel used is just sorta...well, strange. i've never worked a heel like it, and that's the entire reason i went ahead with it. ya know, for the sake of a new technique. see what i mean? the way it's constructed, you are left making an almost i-cord like run of stitches across the opening. see, it's so strange that i can't even give a good description. i can't yet tell if it's going to cause a problem with the fit or not, so i guess that i'll keep on keeping on til the end of sock 1.

in closer warmer better sock news, the Twisted Traveling sock (the one i'm designing myself) is shaping up just as i had pictured it in my head. can you tell that i used the Eye of Partridge stitch for the heel? cause i can, and this is the first time that i've ever gotten it to look right. i am, consequently, ultra-jazzed. on the heel, i also used a 3 st garter selvage, something i've never tried before. and let me tell you, it's just brilliant! unlike the chain stitch selvage i normally use, with this one, there is no gappines when you pick up the gusset stitches. everything is so tight and uniform. i love it when i try new things and they end up well!

the LYS currently has their after christmas yarn sale running...everything is 30%-50% off. since it is after the gift giving holiday time, i don't have a lot of moola to throw at new yarn, no matter how cheap it is, so i exercised restraint and logic and only picked up a couple of things that i have been lusting after for a good while. two skeins of Supermerino4 in a colorway that i'm drawn to, no matter how illogical it seems (i'm not terribly wild about the blues...they're okay). these where 40% off! i also grabbed up a single skein of Rowan 4-ply Soft. i'm currently making myself a Shedir out of it, so pics in a couple of days.

in other news, last night, i brought this sexy guy home from work.

i've seen tons and tons of betas in all my stints as Pet Shop Girl (this is the second one i've worked at) but i've never seen a blue and orange beta. i've named him Mordecai and he was sort of a sign on what type of fish tank will be the first when i get room to set a couple up: a Southeast Asian Blackwater biotope! (i'm a big ol' geek all around, not just for the knitting!)

a couple of years ago, when g and i first moved to Indianapolis, i discovered the glory and joy that a LYS in the same town you live in can bring. oh, and the utter e-vile-ness of the Sale room at Mass Ave Knit shop (yep, just what it sounds like. a ROOM of discounted yarn *sigh*). it was there, approximately 3ish years ago, that i picked up 10 skiens of Noro Lily in a gorgeous silvery grey color. now, i love this yarn. i loved it when i bought it and i loved it each of the previous (like 2 or 3) times i've knit it up into some failed project doomed for the frog pond. the problem was the Lily just wouldn't talk to me. she wouldn't tell me what she wanted to be, so i was left willy nilly trying different things. a flirty summer top?? guess not. how about a lacey shell? uh uh, try again. a close fittinging, simple cardigan? eh, not so much. inspiration has once again struck where Lily is concerned, dear readers, and this time, i think she might just be speaking up. i almost don't want to say anything. i've gotten my hopes up concerning this girl before, and i've always let her down with projects that were, well, just not right. i think she'll sing as a Sahara sweater, though. i've almost gotten the main body finished. that's all i'm gonna say about it right now, and no pics until it's all done. i don't want to jinx it!

well, after the confessions in the last post, i feel that i can freely share with all you in blogland progress pics of my current WIP--albeit one that wasn't on the UFO/FWIP's list. it's currently sweater weather in my neck o' the woods, and i'm hell bent to get this baby done before things get warmer.
without further ado, let me present the first sleeve of the Weekend Pullover!

isn't it just lovely?? (mind you, this is an unblocked-just-got-off-the-needles view). i am totally enamoured of the pattern. there is a whole lot going on in it, what with a 2 row stitch pattern, an 8 row stitch pattern, and a 26 row cable AND increases, but once i got the rythym, it wasn't much of a bother at all. i'm keeping track of the cable pattern (it twists at various rows, so...) and increases and everything else (so far) is falling right into place. did i mention that i'm love love loving how this looks so far?

i was having day dreams of a heavily textured sweater done in a lightweight yarn, and this baby is everything i could have hoped for