A Little Yarn On The Side

You might have been wondering where I have been for the last few days of my crafting week, and the answer would be getting my arse kicked by: That's right--the kimono shawl, which upuntil this week has been a pretty well behaved project.  Being a gracious and loving knitter, I was willing to overlook the insane amount of time it was taking to finish.  After all, good things come to she who waits.....or so I've been told because being a very impatient person, I have never really tried that theory out.  But THEN it had the temerity to force me to cast off FIVE TIMES before it stopped puckering. Okay, you can't really see it, but it was there.  This is a picture of the 4th cast-off using a needle two sizes larger than the 4 I was working with, and it STILL pulled the lace too tight.  On the 5th try, I made every stitch so large that I think Theo could have jumped through the darn things, and finally, finally FINALLY have a finished object! AND I'm down to 1...

After much debate and hoping everyone else would think the same way, I decided that the yarn for Andy's sweater is actually overdue from my allotted purchases from January 1, 2009 and had already been "allowed" so it wouldn't be cheating.  So.......THERE IS YARN ON ITS WAY TO MY HOUSE!!!! Being no fool--or at least not one right at that moment, I was flying through Elann's ordering process before I could be seduced by any other yarns so quickly that I didn't double-check the address and had to email them after I placed the order to explain that the address they had on file was no longer correct.  (And having a post office box where yarn can be sent so your husband won't see is a bad, bad idea....that isn't why I had one, but it's a bad idea nonetheless) I did allow a set of blocking wires, but I had been looking for a set so that was a little less of an impulse buy than one might think.  AND THERE IS YARN ON ITS WAY TO MY HOUSE!!!! Since I am 4...

After time, mature reflection, and a white chocolate martini, I have decided that checking the size of my stash was a GOOD thing (so you guys are totally off the hook).  If I buy NO MORE YARN and knit furiously for the next 13 months, I could perhaps be below 100,000 yards of yarn in my stash by 2011. This is exciting. Granted, 28,000 yards of yarn would be a lot to knit in one year, but my Ravelry account doesn't reflect yarn as being "used up" until the project is actually finished.  So, if I finish up a couple more WIPS by the end of the year--and several more next year--I may knock 4,000 yards off that total pretty quickly.  So.... I am NOT buying yarn at the end of the year.  I will, however, be picking out some sort of reward/bribe for myself, though I haven't decided what exactly.  It needs to be something good--maybe something I wouldn't normally buy for myself..... In the meantime, the kimono shawl is "zipping" along as much as lace eve...

....you would be absolutely correct.  Since the costumes turned out pretty darn well, if I do say so myself, I have been taking it a bit easy on the crafting front.  However, one can only rest on one's "laurels" so long before one's "laurels" get sore, so...... meet the November Project of the Month.  Flannel pajamas!  How amazingly appropriate, don't you think?  There may have been a little peaking when drawing out of the project bin, but a project is a project.  The fabric is washed & I'm in the process of ironing it now.  In general, I love having a front-loading washing machine, but it can really turn long pieces of fabric into some serious knots. Not forgetting about my Double Dog Dare challenge, the Kimono Shawl has moved to the forefront The alpaca cardigan is super-close to being done, but I'm going to set that aside for just a little bit to see if I can channel the momentum to finish this project within November.  There are s...

--and I am taking the coward's way out. Sort of. I was all set to do battle with the ribbed yoke pullover, but we are having some friends over for dinner tonight, and I didn't think receiving another ass-whooping by a bunch of superwash would put me in the best frame of mind for entertaining, so I have chosen a safer route today. Sewing a few seams on the pullover and a couple pattern repeats on the kimono shawl which recently celebrated it's second birthday without yet being finished. Of course, it isn't actually the oldest WIP--there's a shawl on size 0 needles that just turned 5, but that is a bit more understandable. I mean, size zero needles? I'll be finishing that one the day I file for Social Security...provided my eye sight is still good and knitting hasn't finally snapped whatever will be left of my brain after the ribbed yoke pullover....

Between a barrage of rodent gifts yesterday--and by the way, I am the leading mouser here at Chateau Sutton-Goar--and making a roasted tomato-chipotle salsa today, I have only had little snatches of time for knitting here & there, which doesn't work for "fussy" projects such as redesigning a sweater. So, since it is now "fall" here--or at least in the mornings--I dug out the Kauni cardigan to work on. I love this sweater & it only got moved to the Project Timeout Bin because wool is just too warm to knit with during the summer, so we're still on good terms. I got a few rounds done and was closing in on the divide for the neck and ran into an issue with a splice. Normally, I get really irritated with splices in the middle of balls of yarn, but these balls are MASSIVE and I have almost completed the entire body with the original 2 balls of yarn. I was at a spot in the pattern where I could start the new color on a stripe, so I cut out a bit, backe...

I have finished the 13th pattern repeat and it's all downhill from here! Granted, it's a really long hill, but still... Theo grudgingly agreed to hang out with me while I knit but he sulked the whole time. He only agreed because he's really clingy since I was gone for a whole three days, and right now this is as independent as he gets. If I get some time, we'll do a little sewing tomorrow.

In the last 2 weeks, I've hosted 3 parties, gone out 3 times, had two different rounds of house guests, gone on a long weekend to Oregon, baked THREE chocolate zucchini cakes, made two batches of pickles, and met some friends for lunch. What I have NOT done so much of: * sleep * knit * sew We returned from Oregon Sunday around 3:30, and Andy's parents arrived around 5 for a quick visit on their way to Seattle. My little sidekick was obviously thrilled to see them as well, because he promptly brought my mother-in-law a dead mouse, which he hid inside her shoe. Luckily, she's a cat lover, so she could appreciate it as a "gift," though I was, of course, mortified. I guess I should be thankful he didn't recreate the live mouse floor show that he provided for one dinner guest. I have finally reached repeat #12, so one more and I'll be halfway: and it still continues to look exactly the same. I think I'm going to do a little minor blocking with the i...

Okay, I really just ran out of time, but I DID NOT cast on a new project for the trip! Instead, I found a bag for the Kimono Shawl to travel in and it says it's having a lovely time and is enjoying the cat hair-free environment. It's gotten rather picky since it started going out and about with me lately. AND I'M STILL ON THE WIP WRESTLE-MANIA TEAM!!!!!!!

Today the Kimono Shawl and I got the car's oil changed and the tires rotated, and now that I've reached the 11th pattern repeat I'm feeling a bit more enthused. I'll be halfway after the 13th repeat, then it's all downhill from there. Don't you think it's looking a bit more manly after all the grease and motors today?

I actually was in bed--well, more "on" as it's freakishly hot here this week--most of the day with A COLD (which is an obviously stupid name as there isn't anything COLD about it), so I got the 10th repeat done on the Kimono Shawl, which leaves 16. And as it basically looks EXACTLY the same as it did yesterday & the day before & the day before... we're just going to say that this is what it's going to look like for the foreseeable future. This is how WIPS are made. You start out--the pattern and the yarn are new! They're exciting! You want to see how the pattern will look! You've got an inch! Then two! Then somewhere along the way, the inches become less noticeable, the pattern becomes a bit less interesting--perhaps even monotonous. Maybe a troublesome sock yarn starts calling your name....Maybe you start to wonder what you ever saw in lace, and when was the last time you saw someone wearing a shawl in public? The merino laceweight th...

So, it's July 13--more than a third of the way through July, I am on the 8th repeat of a 26-repeat lace stole pattern (having completed 6 repeats over the span of 2 YEARS), I'm knitting less than 30 minutes a day right now, and some small, totally delusional part of me actually believes I might finish the kimono shawl before the end of the month. You know, I love being an optimist--it makes life exciting and filled with endless possibilities--but I think being crazy would be a bit of a drawback. To be fair, if I could finish one repeat a day I would be finished with the shawl in 18 days--maybe giving myself a 19th day to finish the edging--which would schedule the completion date on July 31 if I finished 2 repeats today and August 1 if I get only one done today. No problem--except for the TWO parties we're hosting this week, 1 party we're attending on Saturday, the dinner we're going to on Friday, the visitors arriving two weeks from today, that whole garden thin...

While I've been staying busy mostly with the gardening and working on Andy's birthday gift--with the obligatory help from Theo-- I have actually made some progress on the blanket's edging--also with Theo's help: It's just a simple garter stitch, which admittedly is getting really boring. So, I have been bribing myself with another WIP, the Kimono Shawl --again with a little help from Theo. There are 26 pattern repeats and I'm only on number 8, so I'm not sure what the odds are of finishing it this month, but if I DID get it done before casting on something new, I'd be extremely pleased. And with something as boring as the baby blanket to work on, it just might happen........

Technically, I could cast on something new today, and I don't really have any good "stoplight" knitting.....but I'm trying to hold strong. I decided it wouldn't hurt to move one of my WIP Wrestling entries a little farther along The Luna Moth shawl has 4 1/2 pattern repeats, and I just finished repeat number 3, so it's getting close. And the most marvelous part--NO EDGING!!! Theo thinks I'm cheating and doesn't condone such behavior. To make amends, I did some sewing while he guarded the material for the next project-- some summer clothes for Andy. Around here, our clothes are furry even BEFORE they're made. I also did a few rows on the Kimono Shawl, which has now become a Top Project because it's just about the only thing I can work on without having to consult the pattern for every row. If I can just make it past today without going near the yarn closet.......

....sock yarn in hand and was just about to cast on for a new pair of socks, when my small, rational self--who never usually speaks up in regards to knitting--said, "Hold on a minute....isn't this sort of behavior how we became the WIP Legend in the online knitting community???" She's not a talkative part of my personality, but she has a really annoying habit of usually having a point & being right and all of that, so..... To show I really have grown as a knitter, I dug out the Kimono Shawl which had been busily tangling itself up with all the other projects in the WIP bin (cobweb yarn always being a bit of a troublemaker). So far it's only gotten about 6 rows, but those are 6 rows I didn't have, so that was something. Then, because I still really wanted to make those socks but was desperately trying to prove that I have SOME willpower, I finished another block for the Warm Up America afghan which actually brings me to 4, but one has already been turned ...

Today I blocked my MS3. I like the beads, like the draping effect of the yarn (Skacel Merino lace), am thrilled that it's finished, and still dislike the shawl. I have knit much larger lace projects, but I have never knit anything that felt larger. It proves something that I should have realized long ago--don't knit patterns you don't like. Seems sort of self-obvious, but under the influence of yarn fumes, I forget this one pretty regularly. Still, I think I will have learned my lesson with asymmetrical shawls at least. I am not an "artistic interpretation" sort of lace knitter. I'm more of a "those-two-sides- of-the-shawl-darn-well-better-match" sort of lace knitter. Probably good to know for future reference, and in case I am tempted by "mystery knitting" projects in the future... This weekend I started the beaded band for Fleur, which now has me terribly excited about the whole project, and the right front was brought through the f...

The Albatross Swan Lake MS3 stole is finally done!!! It will look a bit better after being blocked, but how much depends on your perspective. I am a "symmetry" sort of person, so this takes top honors as my least favorite knitting project ever. But, it's done, and I get to add 1000 yards to my tally for the year. YAY! I might have been doing a little swearing while working on the last few beaded rows--Theo obviously thought it safer to wait outside the sewing room. I've had a little difficulty deciding what to work on next. After finishing 5 projects in a row, I would love to cast on something new, but I'm hoping to get to at least 10 WIPs in a row before I crack. So, I did a few rows on the Fir Cone Shawl which can't be finished without buying more yarn, then on to Fleur which I have a love/hate relationship with. It's a lovely cashmere blend yarn, but because of the shaping, it is really fussy knitting and yet boring stockinette stitch, so I los...