A Little Yarn On The Side

*  Form a Knitter's SuperPAC and start questioning presidential candidates on their stand on circular versus double-pointed needles *  Take a new yarn to your knitting group and announce that it's from a lesser-known cousin of alpaca.....Loupaca *  Create a Facebook page for your stash and provide regular updates on its breeding details *  Find a published garter stitch scarf pattern and write to the designer asking where she gets her inspiration. *  Record a podcast about the new discovery you've made on how to rip back mohair yarn easily.  Cut the recording right after saying, "The key to frogging mohair easily is...." *  The next time someone tells you, "Oh, I could never learn to knit," tell them it's the not the knitting that's actually hard--it was the 4 year apprenticeship in the mountains of Tibet that really made it challenging.

...or even a crafting Friday.  I have accepted a political consulting contract, so I worked most of yesterday, and it wasn't until evening that I had some free time for knitting. This will be a simple baby sweater all in stockinette, and was just the right project to start after a busy day.  According to the pattern and everyone's notes on Ravelry, the two balls of this yarn that I have should be enough to make this sweater in the 12-month size, so that's what I'm aiming for.  12 sweaters in a year didn't necessarily mean 12 ADULT-sized sweaters.  Stand by for doll-sized sweaters by about October...........

The first sweater is done, blocked, and  furred.  Theo's part is done, but I do still need to weave in the end for the neck.  I was waiting to see how it blocked before weaving in the ends.  I think I would make it just a bit longer if I were to do this again, but I actually made it slightly longer than the directions said, but because cotton stretches, I didn't want to get too excited about modifications.  It's very cute though, and I was all jazzed about starting the next sweater.....but the pattern books for the next 2 are somewhere in boxes.  Dang it.  I guess that's one way to make me tackle those WIPs. 1 down, 11 to go..............

In an ordinary week, I would have perhaps finished some knitting.........or done some knitting.  But as anyone who has been seeing Idaho in the national news lately will probably know, this is not an ordinary week.  I've been posting the details on my other blog so I won't do so here, but I mention it here as the only excuse I have for having only made it to here on the spring tank top.  One tiny front piece and then just the neck and arm holes and it's done.  So like 5 stitches more than last time.  Sheesh--if I were knitting any slower I'd be tinking. The good news is that Andy has not been such a slug, so I helped him glue the first shelves together: They're made from oak and oak plywood, and will be stained a reddish-brown--sort of to look like cherry office furniture.  We've been trying out different colors of stain and wood combinations and found redder hues look best against the green paint.  We talked about using nicer wood, but with th...

Just when I'm down to knitting the last part of the tank---just ready to divide for the front--that what I really want to do is cast on a new project?

Really, I swear  I almost have a finished sweater.  Honest.  The back of the tank top is done, the front is on the needles.........and I am posting late at night because I thought I might have a finished sweater to show you if I just kept knitting........ Dang that pesky need for sleep...

Andy had another idea for storage for the sewing room, so he added a thin piece of plywood to the underside of the new sewing desk and now it's the perfect place to store long skinny things--yardstick, blocking wires, that long flat pressing thing, and also seems to provide a LOT of kitty entertainment on rainy days: Because my back was hurting a bit more (gym, lifting boxes, sitting--image that),  I spent most of Finishing Friday working on the new sweater, which has now divided for the armholes and I'm working on just the back.  I also finished picking up the button band for the blue sweater, but I want to edit that pattern to add buttons and button holes, which I thought would be best to do while NOT back on pain pills.   No progress on the green dress yet, but I have actually located a sewing project I can do as soon as the dress is finished. Same jean-type jacket pattern I keep making, but this one in purple corduroy, so one that would be great for...