Finish-itis!

Not such a bad thing! I go in spurts of startitis and finishitis. I love to start start start, but then there's nothing quite as satisfying as finishing a bunch of projects one after the other. Okay, I find throwing out ball bands and a pile of snipped ends to be equally satisfying but that's beside the point.

I really wanted to bust the cotton stash in June. I tried, really I did...



This was less then half my washcloth production. When all was said and done, I'd made 14 washcloths for personal use and 4 more intended as a baby gift. Oh wait, I'm forgetting a couple - make that 6 more for gifts. All that knitting, and the cotton stash remains. It is smaller, but it's still there.

Doesn't help that I bought a cone of Peaches n' Cream and started this:



It's Rutabaga from Knitscene Spring 2007! I loved this immediately, but the word "cluster" scared me away from even reading the instructions. I envisioned having to knit a popcorn or bobble every few stitches (nevermind that I couldn't actually see anything like that in the photos) and couldn't bear the thought. Upon closer inspection, however, the cluster was nothing more than a couple wraps of a couple stitches. Big deal! I'm halfway through and it's really fun...though I can't work on it too much at one time since my hands are still recovering from the June Washcloth Mania (aka cotton hell).

I'm working my way through a couple sweaters. The Incan Pullover on the cover of the Summer '08 KnitSimple really is what this yarn wants to be, it's just taking a long time to become it.





I like top-down construction, but the yoke takes so dang long! I'm knitting this on size 6 needles which is the smallest size I've ever used for a garment. I finally made it to the back and my goal is just to have it done by fall - but I better hurry because that could come any day now!

The other sweater is crochet: The Sera Lace Top by Doris Chan from the Fall 2007 Interweave Crochet.



So far so good, but I'm going to definitely need more yarn. I'm using 7 balls of Knit Picks Shine Sport in Violet that I bought from someone on Ravelry. I knew I was rolling the dice by starting this with a finite quantity of yarn, but it was a chance I was willing to take. It's cute, but I'm concerned about the length. I know Doris is great about taking stretch into account so you don't end up with a dress, but it still is a little worrisome. I think I'll end the body with 2 more balls of yarn - one for each sleeve - then I'll order more yarn and leave my fate to the dye lot gods.

I'm very blase about work right now and thinking I'll bug off and crochet some more this afternoon. My daughter is at a basketball day camp in St. Cloud today and won't get home until 4-ish, but then right away at 5:00 we're off to Minneapolis for her last regular season soccer game. Eek. I won't be driving though so you can bet my lace scarf will be coming along. That thing is moving like lightning. Have I shown that yet?



The perfect use for the leftovers from my Knit it Down sweater and it satisfies my love of lace in worsted weight yarn.

On that note, have a wonderful day!

Humpty Dumpty had a great fall...

...and the dentist couldn't put her tooth back together again! The title is a tribute to today being Hump Day and to my feelings regarding my tooth and its failure to behave.

Another visit to Dr. John, another x-ray, and a referral to an endodontist. I don't know how they'll handle this, but I hope it's handled soon. I go in on Monday. In the meantime, I think it's a perfect excuse to pay a visit to my LYS this afternoon: Silver Creek Cabin. I'm dying to see the new Berroco Fall/Winter patterns in person. They're gorgeous!

Here's my own little bit of gorgeous-ness. Well maybe not actually gorgeous, but this will be my go to sweater for a long time.



I love love love and ADORE it! It's so comfy and the yarn is ridiculously soft. It cost me all of about $8 to knit because sadly, I think the yarn is discontinued, but that just means that I should try to snag some more before it's all gone. Yes, Bernat Denimstyle is an acrylic/cotton blend, but that cotton makes such an enormous difference. It's one of those sweaters that you don't even want to take the time to wash because you want to wear it any chance you get. I could have knit the small size just fine and it would have fit me more like the model, but it's great the way it is. The collar sits just fine and I love the deeper V. AND, no seams whatsoever. Even the crossing of the V-neck was achieved through switching and passing stitches. I could make this again in a heartbeat.

Look what I started with the leftovers:



It's the Easy Lace Scarf from Knitter's Review. I just realized that mine kind of looks like the one in the article. It's really turning out well and moves along so fast. What more could you ask for in a scarf?

I finished the first sleeve of 28thirty yesterday and instead of immediately blasting through the 2nd sleeve, I decided to go on a washcloth kick. I found a few great free patterns for diagonally knit washcloths, grabbed some leftover bits of 100% cotton and cast on. I made a reverse mitered washcloth last night and got halfway through Bernat's Eyelet and Ridge Washcloth this morning while I watched Angel. Fun fun fun! I love diagonal patterns because there's always something to look forward to. Plain straight up washcloths feel like they take longer. Maybe not, but they feel that way. Here they are so far:





I'd better call it quits today and get back to work. I have a few things to do before I take L. to therapy this afternoon. Amazingly, it's 74 degrees here and it actually feels warm to boot! All the windows are open but I may even have to turn on the AC today. Could it be true? Summer? Really?

Have a great day!

Has it really been this long?

Good grief! Give me a day off and I'll take a month! I really do love blogging - I just have to get into the habit again of doing it regularly.

So what's been going on? Well, we're patiently waiting for consistent spring-like weather. It was 39 degrees here a couple days ago. Right now we're sitting at a rainy 52. Not too bad - at least there's no snow!

We did, however, have some severe storms last Sunday. Here's what the north side of our house looked like after the baseball-size hail:



Here's one of the hail stones. This photo was taken 30 minutes after the hail stopped and it had probably been on the ground for 45:



Here's what happened to my poor mom's car. She was visiting so her car was outside:



We are going to need a new roof, siding, 1 window, an exterior light, and gutters. Our truck took a beating as well. Both my mom's car and our truck will likely be totalled. Eek. Hopefully this storm was not a sign of things to come this summer. I'm going to stock up on batteries just in case.

Ok, on to the knitting. I've been heavily into the 2008 Fluffy Lap Blanket Bonanza. If you're on Ravelry, you can find the details here. One more to go and then I'll pound out a few more Mason-Dixon Washcloths. Those two patterns are my favorite teacher gifts. Fast, easy, impressive looking, and always appreciated. What could be better?

I bought my first skein of Malabrigo Chunky yesterday at Silver Creek Cabin. The color is Stonechat.



I was forced to buy this after seeing Parikha Mehta's Dolores Park Cowl. I simply had no choice. Plus I needed some yarn therapy after signing up for a stupid safe driving course to keep a ticket off my record. I bought it, wound it, and promptly knit it up. Like it? I adore it!



I definitely can wait for winter weather, but believe me when I say I'll be looking for any opportunity throughout the rest of spring and summer to wear this. I think this could be a new fave for gift giving as well. At $11 a skein, it's pretty darn economical too.

I suppose that's about it for now. I'll be casting on Blanket #5 today - Oh, and I got the call from JoAnn that my Denimstyle in Khaki has arrived! Yay! I'll get it tomorrow and I hope I will finish that sweater (from my last post) over the weekend. It's all good!

Have a great Thursday!

I'm really trying!

This spare laptop isn't cutting the mustard - every time I try to post anything, I.Explorer shuts down on me. I have photos and stuff, doesn't it know that? I'll give it a shot.

First and most importantly, the 1st Communion Dress is almost done! All that's left is the slip and the zipper and I WILL finish it today. I don't have to leave the house at all and can concentrate completely. My other motivation is my root canal redo tomorrow. I'm sure I won't feel like sewing after that and I don't need this pressure hanging over my head anymore. Plus, the big day is Sunday. I need to get the dress done and out of the house.

I've run into a crossroads with the Knit It Down sweater from Creative Knitting, January 2008. It's a great sweater and I want to live in it. However, I need one more ball for the second sleeve and one more ball is not to be found anywhere. I'm debating about whether I should drive down there again and special order it for $2 a ball and no shipping or order it online for more plus shipping. Maybe Friday I'll do the special order thing. I really want to wear this sweater!

I crocheted the Boteh Scarf (scroll down) out of my languishing Knit Picks Shine Sport in Hydrangea. Yeah, I know, I still have to weave in ends and do a quick steam blocking, but it is pretty cool, huh? There was one error in the magazine pattern that was easy to spot and only meant I had to rip out one of the motifs. No biggie. It moved along really quickly and I love the results.

Hmm, what else have I been working on while my laptop has been causing me unnecessary amounts of stress? Oh, I added eyelets to my Big Bag. That was fun! If I'm not careful, I could go eyelet-happy! Now I want some black rope to thread through, knot, and use as a shoulder strap.

I also purchased the She-Knits patterns Marly and Lorin from Sharon's Ravelry pattern store. I finished Marly in only a couple days and felted her yesterday. I checked her after about 6 minutes of agitation - not enough. However, 5 minutes later, she'd gone too far. Good to know. I had to really wrestle her onto the trash can I used for blocking. That was also due in part because I didn't carry my yarn loosely enough through the slip stitch patterns. It's that first pattern up by the handles is the one I really have to watch out for. Now I know.

I made the optional pocket according to Sharon's directions, then I added another smaller pocket hoping it would felt down to cell phone size. The pocket is a bit wider than desirable for my size phone, but the height is perfect. Again, now I know.

I wish I had known all of this stuff about pockets when I made the Big Bag. I love that bag dearly and think it has great potential, but it REALLY needs pockets. Otherwise it's just a huge black hole! The stupid thing is of course I could have figured out how to add pockets if I'd just taken a moment to think, but literal me didn't think to depart from the instructions and add a pocket!

Another irritation is that I had a magnetic snap floating around my desk for nearly a year. Not two weeks ago, while cleaning my desk, I tossed the snap thinking I wouldn't be using it. Grrr. Oh well, nothing a trip to Wal-mart can't cure.

As I catalogued the wool stash in Ravelry the other night and contemplated which colors to use for Lorin, I realized that Marly and Lorin are almost the identical bag. The slip stitch patterns and sequence are exactly the same! I felt a little stupid for buying both patterns when I could have just winged it for either one, but I'm feeling better about it now. Marly is top down and Lorin is bottom up. And their handles are different. Both of these patterns can help serve as a base for any future designs I might come up with on my own. Yes, it would be rather shocking for me to design something myself, but I have Knitting Never Felt Better by Nicky Epstein and I'm feeling fearless.

Well, I promised myself I'd finish the dress today and I went ahead and told my SIL it would be done today, so I'd better make good and get going. Hope you all have a wonderful day!

Holiday Knitting...I've got the blues (but it's okay because I have presents too!)

And not for the reason you might think. Am I overwhelmed with projects and don't know how I'm going to finish them? Am I staring at the ceiling each night wondering what the heck to make everybody on my list? Am I worried I won't please anybody with their gift?

Nope. Not me.

Last November I crocheted a sweater for my mom and this year I'm making the Ombre Acrylic Nightmare - er, Blanket - for my brother, but I haven't done any holiday gift knitting since the Scarf and Hat Extravaganza of 2005. That year I made 9 hats and 15 scarves. It was craziness!




That was a little much, so I'd hoped not to do that much again, but I didn't expect that I wouldn't be doing any gift knitting. I'm kind of sad. Here's the deal....

The Husband sees the idea of a sweater/hat/scarf/socks or anything knit for him and expected to be worn by him as torture and a threat. He gets nothing and likes it.

The Girl, as I've said many times before, said to me "Mom, I don't like knitted things." She gets nothing and likes it. Well she does want a striped rib hat to match her new winter jacket, but that's all she wants.

Bigger Boy loves anything I make. He doesn't specifically ask for anything, but he'll take anything I make.

Smaller Big Boy loves anything I make. He's begging me to finish his blue sweater.

Everybody else already has a scarf or hat, my mom has a sweater, and my brother will eventually have this beast of a blanket. What more could they want? The other attitude prevailing in my household is that a handmade gift isn't enough. Nevermind that the yarn for my mom's birthday sweater last year cost $50 and hours and hours to crochet, Tony didn't think it was good enough to give that on its own and we bought another gift to go with it.

It's not that I don't know my family well enough to decide what to make for each of them. On the contrary, I think I know them well enough to understand that they don't want anything and I'm not about to force anything knitted upon them. Plus, everybody at my house but me sweats year round so they don't need any wool in their lives. I pity them. More for me. My hands are cold.

On one hand, I'd love to be the person who is constantly asked to make things for others, but then again, I wouldn't have as much time to knit for myself. Which brings me to my presents!

The first half - the package from Amazon - came yesterday. I started reading Jenny McCarthy's book and it's pretty good. Her son's story is vastly different from my son's but I'll save all those details for a review when I've finished it. I haven't looked at the Knitter's Book of Yarn much yet, but I can tell you that I'm DYING to sit by the fire and read until I fall over! It's huge! I'm so psyched and so ready to soak up some knowledge about yarn. This book is jam packed with info. I'll review that too once we've gotten to know each other.

My Knit Picks package should be arriving tomorrow. Package tracking said it was only 25 miles from my house at 3 a.m. this morning. I was hopeful for today, but certainly it will be tomorrow. Yeeee! Of course that does mean I'll have to work on that blanket...

I'll let you know if I survive.