Shut Up & Knit!

Slightly Hyper Monday Love!

I got to see my best friend for a little while yesterday and it's made me all happy and shit.  Don't worry.  I should be back to hating the world again by mid-afternoon tomorrow.

At one point, we were each holding a skein of the same yarn (in different colorways).  I read part of the label to her and said something that only she would understand.

"I get it, but I don't get it.

The label claimed the yarn was "mothproof", and while I do understand what that means, I don't really understand what it means in terms of how one "mothproofs" yarn.  What did they do to the yarn?  How was it mothproofed?  Thankfully, we've known each other forever and she understood. 

There aren't a lot of people who speak my brand of dork, ya know.

Her favorite holiday/time of year is Halloween.  I think that may have had a little something to do with this very cool reusable bag she gave me.  I have no idea where she got it, but I'm guessing somewhere on etsy if I have to make a guess.

Not only was there the really cute bag, but the bag was stuffed with stuff!

This is from Tempted.  It's a Merino (80%) Silk (20%) blend in the colorway Bordello.  Who doesn't love that name?

And this is from DragonFibers.  It's a Merino (60%) Bamboo (40%) blend.  It has more crimp than the other bamboo blend I tried to spin and I have high hopes to be able to actually spin this one.  The colorway is called Party Dress and it may not be what the photo is showing. 

It's still my blog, ya know.  Photo issues are a given.

Don't judge me.

There may have been yarn, candy, a severed plastic finger and some fabulous lavender goodies, but I have to hold something back for later, right?  I mean, I've been working on Lyra for over a month now with no end in sight.

Plus I suck and shit.

Not that it's news.  :p

Oh, and I also love that's currently harvest and that there is so much going on as we all get ready for winter.  I even sort of love seeing all the squirrels running around.

Sort of.

When I'm not in the car.  0.o

I hope your Monday has some love and candy in it.

Oops... I did it yet again

Oyster Bay Shawl

Knit with Vintage Cabin Cove Mercantile Lace Weight Yarn

US 5 / 3.75mm Addi Lace Circular Needles  (US 8 / 5mm for cast off)

09-14-09 ~ 09-22-09

Knit with Megan and Opal

Wonderful pattern.  The lace charts are clear and easy to understand.  However, you do want to make sure you can see the green box that marks the repeats on the charts.  That makes the knitting much less stressful.  ;^)

A great pattern if you're new to knitting lace.  No weird scary stitches.  No mysteries or surprises.  Just a nice multi-chart triangle lace shawl.

This is the second time I've knit this pattern and I still really like it. 

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go into hiding.  I smoked my girls and they're going to be lookin' for me.

Happy Friday!

I knit! Who Knew?!

Look, Joansie!  I'm posting socks!

I'm posting my Personal Sock Club ~ September Socks to be exact.

Forgot about them, didn't you? 

It's okay.  I did, too, until I found them while looking for handknit socks to wash the other day.  I finished them, wore them and never got around to talking about them.

/sigh

They are ShuBuiKnits Sock yarn, which is 100% superwash wool, in Orchid.  (Next time, I want to use a more semi-solid colorway with this yarn.)  I won the yarn a couple/few years ago at Kris's blog for some reason that I can't remember at this point.

The yarn is soft and squishy and lovely.  However, it hated me and refused to knit up in tidy strips.  In the end, I gave in and just knit 1x1 ribbing cuff down with CCSR heels and toes on a US2/2.75mm circular.

I did the toes differently this time and I think I really like it.  Instead of starting the toes on the bottom of the foot and kitchenering on the top of the foot, I did it other way round.  While they do look nice, it was nice to know that no one would ever see the grafting point.  That removed some of the pressure from me.  It's been a while since I last kitchenered anything and part of me always fears that I've gotten rusty.

What?  I'm a worrier.  Leave me alone.  I'm good at it.

I cast on for this pair on September 1 and cast off on September 12.  Not a record, but not too bad, either.

Oh, and I made some yarn...

That is 790 yards of 2-ply solar dyed corriedale (I think) wool that I spindle spun and plied using a gorgeous Golding ring spindle.  (I bought four ounces of roving, but haven't weighed the yarn yet.  Waiting for my drug dealer scale to arrive.  :p)

Can I get a Woo Hoo!?

& Then My Head Exploded

Honeybee Stole by Anne Hanson

Knit for my darling Squish

Zephyr wool/silk lace weight yarn in Sable

US 5 (3.75mm) addi lace circular needles and a single US 8 (5mm) tip for cast off

08-14-09 - 08-30-09  (sent off unblocked)

Never again

I knit the center in one piece rather than in two separate pieces.  The latter is what the pattern calls for, but I hatehatehate a seam down the center of a lace stole.  Tacky!  Instead, I knit 17 repeats of the main body chart before moving on to the other charts.  Once finished with the first side, I picked up the stitches from my provisional cast on and knit the other end of this stole.

The main body chart was boring by the time I reached repeat #17, but all the knitting was simple.  Both to knit and to understand.

However.

The pattern was poorly organized with both charts and a written pattern.  There are uncharted transition rows and it is difficult to locate important numbers like how many repeats to knit.  I had to ask Squish for help in locating important numbers because I just couldn't find them.  She couldn't either, but ended up with a headache for her trouble.

I think it's a case of a designer trying to be everything to everyone and failing.  It's a shame that she doesn't offer patterns for people who knit charts and another for people who are unwilling/unable to read charts.  That might have saved me a lot of frustration and a lot of wasted time with multiple cast ons.  It also might have made me like her work enough to buy some of her patterns in the future.

As it is, I did it and it's over. 

I have two more of her patterns waiting for me and I am not looking forward to it.

If nothing else, I've come to learn that if a designer doesn't show you a photo of the entire project, then chances are quite good they are hiding something.  If it's a stole, chances are good it's a seam down the middle.

Oh, and I love Evelyn A. Clark and Nancy Bush more than words can ever say.

14995*

Today we will see the arrival of comment # 15k.  How cool is that?!

(This number does not reflect spam comments or comments left by assholes (or crazy people) that have needed to be banned.  Rude comments never count for anything ,after all.  And, yes, I am start enough to ban people.  Shocking, no?)

Moving on...

How cute is this?!

It's a Spinner's Grab Bag that I purchased from Knit It Up over at etsy.

There are three half ounce bumps of different fibers there and the extra added goodie that I was totally not expecting of tencel plying thread.  All in a super cute little bag that I already have plans for.

From left to right, the fibers are merino cashmere blend (80/20) in Day Hike, merino bamboo blend (50/50) in Naked, and merino tencel blend (50/50) in Ophelia.  The plying thread is in bronzie and is so much nicer in person.

(I love Picasa, but I still have the occasional photo issue.)

As a semi-new spindler, I haven't worked with a lot of different fibers yet and loved the idea of this little kit.  I don't want to deal with four ounces of a fiber when I just to figure out what it's like.  Ya know?  Sort of like kissing a bunch of different people to see what works for you.

Couldn't argue with the price, either.

When ordering, I left the seller a message.  I mentioned the drop spindling, my desire to try new fibers and asked if it was at all possible I would love to try the bamboo blend, but understood if it wasn't.  As it was pointed out in comments yesterday, you don't know if you don't ask.

On my purchase invoice, the seller had handwritten "bamboo blend" next to what I was getting.  I love that she made a point of sending me what I had asked for.  She did not have to.  I would have been happy with whatever she sent me, but I love her a little for giving me the bamboo blend.

Now I'm so in love with that purple colorway that I have to place another order with her as soon as I feel like I've got two nickles to rub together.  Hate this economy.

Oh, and if you go visit Knit It Up over at etsy and order something, tell her I sent you.  Let me know if you do and I'll even tell you my fake etsy username and everything. 

And today's shopping show and tell is brought to you by the one year anniversary of me having my beloved cat to sleep.  I can't believe it's been a year without her... and I really can't believe it's been a year of sleeping in a bed with no kitty litter bits in it.  There really is an upside to everything.

Happy Wednesday, people!

*Title edited because I'm a dumbass.