Needley goodness

My needles are here. My needles are here. My needles are here. My needles are here. My needles are here. My needles are here. My needles are here. My needles are here. My needles are here. My needles are here. My needles are here. My needles are here. My needles are here. My needles are here. My needles are here. My needles are here. My needles are here. My needles are here. My needles are here. My needles are here. My needles are here. My needles are here. My needles are here. My needles are here. My needles are here. My needles are here. My needles are here. My needles are here.

Okay they are at home waiting for me.

I feel like I'm running across a field to embrace their nickely goodness!

New LYS in Olney MD

My coworker’s wife just opened a new yarn store in olney MD…Like it’s actually opening this saturday (Nov 1)

http://sooriginal.com/default.aspx

SO Original
18165 Town Center Dr.
Olney, MD 20832
301-774-7970

Check it out.

BL: THANK YOU

Look what cool thing BL gave me. It's a tape measure and it's a kitty...and it's white. SOOOOO SUPER COOL.

Yarn Fumes Attacked

I've been a bad bad girl.

I do think it helps that I've at least been honest about my badness. On Friday, I thought a great learning experience for the monkey would be to take her to With Yarn In Front--a LYS just south of me. They had spinning wheels and I thought it would be good for monkey to see actual spinning. But they had yarn there.

I know...it was a surprise to me as well. I had NO IDEA...none none none


So I walked out with Jojoland Harmony in HC05--I have no idea what I'm going to do with this. It's a lace weight merino and about 880 yards. No idea what its going to be. I knew it was pretty and I wanted it. Self control and I have not yet met.

Mostly because I've avoiding self control's calls.


I also bought two skeins of this.

It's plymouth lace baby alpaca in a scruptious chocolate. It's stunning,

Again, I have NO IDEA what i"m going to do with it.

I'm thinking a scarf. (like always, because there's not enough for a stole). I just don't know.

I bought two skeins giving me about 880 yards.


In other news, I ordered my needle set!!!!!!

GLEE

GLEE

GLEE.

It's the nickel based one (I prefer metal) and I have sizes 4 - 17 (wooo) and 3 sets of cables. BL has been RAVING about hers. Honestly, with as much time as I spend knitting, I really need just a good set of needles. And this will keep me from looking at projects and wondering if I have that size needle.

Though I'll still need 0, 1, 2, & 3.

Oh and the last cool thing:

I've been putting off buying blocking wires. I don't really want to spend a ton of money on the blocking stuff--so I bought these, and I'm going to see if they work.

One, I can find them really easily in a store.

Two, they are cheap: $1.99 for a big packet!

Three, I don't have to pay shipping.

I'll let you know how they work out. Hopefully well.

Not about yarn

Just posting my dearling.

“Lead us not into temptation. Just tell us where it is; we'll find it.”

That's a Sam Levenson quote by the way.

So I went onto ebay to look for a gift for my nephew. How I got from Colts parahenalia to...yarn. Well I don't know. But I did, and I found this...

DO YOU FEEL THE LUST. If you could have walked away from 3 skeins of alpaca, silk, cotton yarn just oozing from the screen and ripping your soul from your body until you gave in...well then...you're a better girl than I.

That said, I only spent $9.50 on it, so actually...I'm the better person.

You don't have yarn...i do. Thus: me=better. I have no idea what I'm going to do with it yet, but isn't it just freakin' gorgeous. Omigosh. I'm thinking this...it's a lace sampler. BL is pulling for this. Hmmm i so don't know. Maybe when I see the yarn I'll be inspired.

I'm taking a break from Trellis to finish up JM's dad's scarf in the double drop pattern. It's looking really really nice. I'm also going to finish FINALLY ML's baby sweater (she also reads this blog now, so I better...she'll know when I'm not working on it.) I brought the scarf to the dr's yesterday (just a phys...so no biggie), but the doc comes in...mid row

Me: Uh...do you mind holding on ONEEEEE second

Doc: Oh no problem, my wife's a knitter...

Me: Ah, so you know the phrase "just let me finish this row."

Doc: yep sure do

That almost makes up for the two shots I got yesterday. Tetanus and flu. My doc says I'm vaccinated through my 50s! GLEE.

New yarn...

I need to become that hindu goddess, Kali, with like 10 arms. Sure all of them would be knitting rather than killing people, oh universal destroyer. But she's also the goddess of change...and what else is knitting/crocheting but change.

Last week, I realized that Monkey's swim class was right near Aylin's Woolgatherer--which of course is EVIL EVIL EVIL. I was quite good though, and limited myself to yarn only for things I knew I was going to make. Luckily, Boy doesn't know my project list and I can create projects instantly to buy yarn for.

"Oh that funky eyelashy stuff...that's for the shawl for JM...don'tchaknow."

Sure I had no plans to make shawl for JM prior to seeing yarn, but...it was pretty...leave me alone. I also bought Malabrigo yarn.

OMIGOD, it is so freakin gorgeous. BL had been raving about this yarn for weeks...just taunting me with it honestly. But she's right. It's stunning and lovely and feels so amazing. I can't wait to work with it. However, I'm waiting until my parents get in town this weekend, so they can order my new needle set. Could I be a bit MORE excited? NOPE.

I also cast on Trellis from Knitty.com. It's so lovely. I love doing cables. It makes you feel like a super knitter. They are so stunning all knitted and beautiful. I'm doing this for JF in Shine in the Mallard. This yarn is DEEELISH. So soft and warm and the cables just FREAKIN' POP. I want to use this for every project I ever thought of doing. I had the nightmare though that I had only ordered 6 skeins instead of 7. Next time I do this pattern, I'm ordering 8, just in case. Piece of mind is worth $2.49!

I should never listen to internal coward...

So when I voiced to Boy that I was unsure about going tonight, he told me wise words--"I rather you regret going, then regret not." So I went.

I am very very glad I did. I was a bit worried it was going to be a bit of a yarn sale...cuz with Jasper's need for insulin, my yarn budget is rather low. But per usual Laura (she's my capital yarn yarn dealer...she gets me the gooood stuff) was just lovely as could be. So really you should visit Capital Yarns. It's a fun place and they are holding these things semi regular.

C, L & S (L's daughter...who given how young L looks is obviously the result of some child bride marriage...must ask if L was married to Jerry Lewis...) showed up. C's daughter goes to daycare with the monkey, so we had a good old time chatting about daycare and yarn and such. Then oddly enough it turns out L knows a daycare family...so it's an absurdly small world.

I'm also massively in love with Berocco Comfort. Yes, it's acrylic, but it is soooo freakin' soft. It's unbelivable. Omigosh. LOVE. I'm also completely in love with Dune. If you could see this yarn (follow the link and you will). L was doing a drop stitch scarf with it, and it was just freaking gorgeous.

I'm thinking of using the pattern for JM's dad's scarf, cuz it's manly but it add some shape and pattern...I'm making it with Waikiki.

The big news however is that I FINISHED SHERWOOD

Just have to sew in the ends and that puppy is out the door. Glee. Frolic. Joy.

NO ONE TELLS ME ANYTHING

Things I did not know had happened that SOMEONE should have told me:

1. Red Sox come back from a 7 run deficit
2. Madonna divorcing
3. Scary spice wore this
4. Tea Leoni is separated

See, people, I don't ask a lot, but I do ask to be kept informed. A simple phone call would have been FREAKIN' nice.

I'm considering bailing on tonight. I'm worried about being the only one there. And no one being nice to me, and someone saying something political, and then I'd have to march out, and then someone being wenchy. It's all bad. Sigh. Under this extroverted exterior lies the heart of a coward.

I stayed up way too late last night. I finished the second sleeve of sherwood and decided...why of course I would finish the neck at 3:30 am. I ended up frogging the whole thing at 4:30 and heading to bed. I wasn't being patient (I know...SHOCKING) and I wasn't thinking it through, so it looked like @$$. Arghh.

Maybe tonight I'll fix the whole thing. The whole neck instructions are rather vague, so at 3:30 my judgement isn't compatible with vague. Like "do what you think looks best" hmmm. Uh... It's 3:30 I have no idea what looks best. So I went on ravelry and saw how others handled it and I liked. So KB prep your son...his sweater is comin!

Pics of the baby blanket

hours of yarny goodness

So I finished the book "casts off" yesterday. It's like an alcoholic's guide to the best bars (wow, was that un-PC or what?). The book made stash hoarding and needle comparing and all the other whankines of knitting just sound COMPLETELY NORMAL.

Of course...it's not.

I took yesterday off work. A much needed time away. MUCH NEEDED.

I spent it finishing a sleeve on sherwood, and shipping out two projects--a baby blanket and some thread crochet. So nice to have that gone. I feel all nice when stuff is out of my house. I'm also hoping to get another cat blanket done soon so that I can give more yarn away.

I find that I now take my knitting bag everywhere. I finally bought a needle holder, which previously had seemed so useless to me. It was on sale though for $2.99, so it was a bargain...And now I love it. I keep my ruler in it too. My big problem with these was that I didn't think they were stiff enough to protect my precious needles. Turns out they are just fine. You get enough needles together in a roll, and they are unbreakable. Wooo.

Add to that, hopefully I will stop buying 87 sets of size six dpns. My issue is that most sock patterns call for 5 needles. 4 to hold the stitches, 1 to knit. But many sets (esp the aluminum) come in sets of 4, so I have to buy 2 sets. And then I forget I bought two sets and I buy two more. So right now...I have about 12 size 6 dpns. Yeah. that's useful.

I also did something smart (and KB's son's little hand will thank me for it), I cast off using a size 7 needle, so it's much much looser. Yeah that's only really interesting to me isn't it? Oh well.

I'll be going to Capital Yarns tomorrow for a knit fest for 2 hours. Should be fun.

Exhaustion

I'm coming off a killer project at work and I think i have stress-dump exhaustion. I am just done. Done. Done. DONE.

Yesterday, I was at Panera ALL FREAKIN' DAY. Not kidding. 9:30 am-8:30 pm The coffee is really good and the free wifi rocked. I brought knitting and I think i got a row done in the middle of stressing and fretting and worrying and being way way way overly caffeinated. BL thankfully stopped by around 4 to keep me company and gave someone to talk to/whine to/bitch at. So incredibly grateful.

(ever realized how weird "grateful" looks as a word)

She casted on her poncho with Andean Silk. Oh, the yarn lust. I shouldn't lust. I have so many projects right now, that honestly, I shouldn't be allowed within ten miles of a yarn store (and unfortunately, where I live, I'm about that from any yarn store...arghhh). Anyway. It was so lovely to have someone stop by...even to taunt me with yarn.

Sherwood is coming along really well, though you should not start this project without a TON of stitch holders on hand. I have NEVER had so many stitches on holders in my life.

On Friday, I'm going to a yarn store for a two hour eve with knitters. Just a nice little time away. It's kinda funny, I never thought of knitting as a social thing. It was something I did. Not something that lubricated my social life. Now I find that I love hanging out with knitters and talking yarn, and patterns, and what not. Ravelry has definitely helped...as has BL. I never thought I would enjoy knitting groups, etc. Turns out I love them. I love the comraderie and the fun.

Sure there's always one in the group that suffers from knowitallitis, and tells you exactly why this cast on method would be better, and why if you don't do it such and such way you aren't a serious knitter. (what is a serious knitter, and why would I want to be one?), but oh well. I just walk out with BL and we spend the car ride home imagining what we'd like to do with our needles :)

Things I hate

I hate...

Sewing in ends. Omigod I hate sewing in ends. I hate hate hate. So why the f did I make a baby blanket made out of EIGHTY tiny granny squares. EIGHTY. At least it was join as you go...but still. Eighty times two...160 ends to sew in.

It had been done for months. MONTHS...but i hate sewing in ends. OMIGOD i hate sewing in ends. So I put it off and off and off. As it laid there...staring at me with it's fringy ends beckoning my hate.

Add to my hate...i had to pick up stitches along an arm opening tonight. Right up there with sewing in edges...but I'm picking up stitches...the same freakin' night. How the heck do both hit on the same night...

When exactly did I piss off the yarn gods? And why when I have TONS of projects waiting for my needly magic, do I still want to buy new yarn and needles and hooks. How can the yarn fumes be attacking me from afar?

Stash busting for a cause

Last night we went to the pet store to get Jasper a new tag that says "diabetic"--incase he gets out or something...so someone doesn't try to feed him sugar cookies or something.

There's homeless kitties there. I get all sad about homeless kitties. I want to take them all home, and it is by luck (and the fear of a home visit) that keeps us a 2 cat household. Kittens are just so freakin' cute.

Well, while looking at the little cats and their towels...I had a brainstorm.

So far I've made two blankets for the kitties using my old yarn that I wasn't planning on using and was just using space. I'm using only washable yarn and crocheting in alternating rows of dcs and scs. I brought over the two today (made using Lion Homespun) and they seemed appreciative...plus i got 2 skeins out of my stash...the kitties looked pretty cute wrapped in the blankets.

GLEE

Yarn, Cat Pancreata & BL

So the bad news.

Kitty has diabetes. I am very very very sad. I cried on the way to pick up monkey. Then, weirdly enough, explaining it to monkey made it better. Like because I had to put it in positive terms to her, I had to accept there were positive terms to put it in. I'm not looking forward to the shots, but I'm looking forward to being with my cat for a long long time to come.

BL came over for knitting. She brought over Andean Silk from Knit Picks. LUST LUST LUST. I want to dream of what I will make with it.

That gets me to the book I'm reading...castoffs by the yarn harlot chick. Of course I'm actually listening to it on tape (or really on these cool portable audio books the library has) because then I can knit at the same time. There are two kinds of knitters...process and project. Sure there's grey area between (and yes blogger.com, I spell grey with an e...suck it up). BL is a project knitter. She wants the stuff. I am a process. I just like the knitting. I learned thread crochet without even liking doilies. Assuming i finish this lace stole, it will be the first thing I've ever made for me. I want to do it. I want to take this here ball of yarn and make it into something with my bare paws...and I love that I can...and I'm not that interested in keeping what I've made.

Oh and I also learned how to wrap and turn for short row shaping...I am THAT cool.

Off to take monkey to bed. Keep Jasper in your thoughts.

Knitty Kitty

So I'm still working on all my projects. I got a book from the library--thinking I want to learn to knit right, but again my gauge. I was thinking about trying continental. And trying to actually doing English. Heck I am an anglophile. My big worry is about my gauge. I got it so dead on right now. But I feel like such a deplicted knitter. Like I'm riding the knitting shortbus. And I'm just waiting for the knitting guidance counselor to tell me maybe I should look into "safety schools."

The funny thing...is that i'm watching promos for knit & crochet today...it's a pbs show that I didn't know about...i'm in thrill. So i'm watching the promo for the chick who does felting on the show (i've never felted...i'm always like six years behind the curve)...So this woman who OWNS a knit shop...she knits just as deplicted as I do. GLEE...I'm not the only loser one!

All this knitting is keeping me decently distracted as I deal with an illness in the family...namely my cat. He's been drinking a lot lately, so we took him in for tests. They were supposed to come back today. They didn't. I think I called the vet 5 times. They were nice every time, and they understood that Jasper is my furry soulmate. (That link is when Jazzy was cat of the day 8 years ago...I just found out...he had fan mail)

So I'm going to go to bed now...listen to a book on tape and try to fix a hole in my lace...with some picked up stiches. UGH.

My cool set of needles

Because I love these... Aren't they cool? Size 10 custom needles. Etsy.com

Here's a link to her shop.

Two Down...seventy to go

So after much trial and tribulation, I finally got two whole repeats done of the lace scarf. Thankfully there were enough sports on tv to get me through.

Side note:
As a punter...aim AWAY from Reggie Bush. It shouldn't take you two times to realize this.

I don't know how I feel about Reggie. He's a great runner, amazing player...but he'd do an ad for the local Rita's if they asked (the new Peyton?) and he's dating Kim Kardashian...which makes me wonder about his intellect.

So back to the scarf.

I think I frogged and recast on at least 5 times. I was telling BL about how I had to frog repeately last night and she asks "oh, didn't you use a life line?" I had to admit that i frogged at row 3. There was not life line. SIGH

I also ran out and bought stitch markers late last night, as I figured out if I put it at various points in the pattern, I wouldn't be so lost. So far so good. The guy at Mike's stared at me when I told him it was a marker emergency. There is such a thing ... REALLY. And all I had were these HUGE ones and that doesn't work with lace.

So I'm starting to feel guilty about not working on my other projects. So I put in some hours on Sherwood with renewed confidence. I also completely organized my knitting bag. Goal of the next couple weeks. GET PROJECTS OUT OF HOUSE.

"My name is Jen, and I'm a yarnaholic."

I'm such an easy mark. I go to my new fav yarn store, Capital Yarns, to get ONE THING. ONE ONE ONE. A set of size 7 pony anodized aluminum needles. If you haven't tried these, they are great. I prefer to knit on metal. Because I'm a deplicted (is that a word) knitter, and the metal makes up for my slow-poke-itis. They are SOOOO much better than the susan bates or boye needles (no they aren't getting a link) you can get from Michaels or ACMoore (which I pers believe is better than mike's at the get go). For one thing...they are filled. I have a sweater pattern i love, but it's on size 2 needles. I was going thru about a set a month, because I was putting the needles in my bag, and within a couple days they were bent, by week 3, they were unusable. People said to find wooden needles--yeah try that in size 2. The pony ones are filled and just really nice to use. I recommend highly.

So I went in for that ONE ONE ONE THING.

yeah.

That worked out.

Meet my new yarn --the color is really more a pure purple. It's freaking gorgeous and beautiful and i love it. Omigosh I love. It wasn't too bad. $17.00 for 100g. Not bad really. And it's so warm...Glee and I'm making something out of it for ME ME ME ME ME ME. ME. ME. ME.

For the record, I have yet to benefit from my knitting. I don't wear scarves much, yet I have a ton, and i'm always doing some other project. And making myself a sweater includes a tape measure and destroying the gossamer weight string that ties me to the illusion that I'm at my pre-baby weight. If you didn't have to measure yourself to make a sweater, I'd have a closet full. As it is, I am staying far far far away from that tape measure.

What I don't like is casting on in a lace pattern. You have to do a provisional cast on, so you can pick up the stitches later. Welp, that whole "invisible cast on" may not be beyond my abilities, but it is beyond my patience. So I'm using this method instead. Taking full advantage of my massive crocheting skills (note sarcasm).

That said. I ended up frogging the night away, because obviously I'm incapable of counting. Or reading a chart. Or really anything beyond drooling and occassionally blinking.

I can prove this, as yesterday, I walked into a tree. A real tree. Walked straight into it. I have scratches all around my left eye...and lets just take a moment and thank God for eyelids....and prolly glasses too. They fought a brave defensive war against the onslaught of the twig forces.

In other news, I emailed the designer of Sherwood pattern (i'm sorry but if I put this link up again, I may puke)...she told me the line that was confusing me was just weird and an editor had put it in...I was free to ignore. GLEE FROLIC JOY.

She's now my friend on ravelry. And here's her blog. She lives in Italy. Join me in my jealousy.

Lace, you evil temptress

So I got another lace book from the library

SIGHHHH

don't these books realize I have 47 baby sweaters to knit, 35 baby blankets, and quite a few afghans.

I went searching on ravelry for lace patterns. If you're not on ravelry...why not? It's knitvana. Anyway...so I'm looking up lace patterns and I'm seeing what people do.

You know what doesn't work when making a lace pattern? Using worsted weight yarn...then the person is like "don't know what it doesn't look right..." Well...hmmm...could it be...YOU USED THE WRONG FREAKIN' YARN.

So I'm having an issue with Sherwood.

I'm confused about a line in the pattern, and since no one else is having the problem...I'm pretty sure it's me.

I found the designer's blog and I wrote her an e-mail, so cross fingers that she writes me back. I'm so lost.

Crab stitch

Real quick: I love the crab stitch for edgings and such. It's lovely and adds a really nice corded finished look.

Here's a tutorial from gocrochet blog. It's a cool stitch...you CANNOT stitch into it, so it's ONLY for edgings...

This is the crab stitch on the edge of an aftghan I made for my friend JM. I've been capping a lot today. Must be my innate need to scream.

My bag

I have a large collection of knitting bags. I keep hoping for the perfect one. I have two I really really like. I keep separate projects in each and a few conf bags I've accumulated over the past few years.

I think knitting bags are almost like yarn. You must have. Even if you do have, you must have more. There should be a "bag stash"

So my first love:

I actually have it more green and brown dots...called "soothing dots" by the manufacturer...Knitpickers. DO NOT CONFUSE WITH KNITPICKS (which is my one true love)... It's very roomy and comfy and holds a lot. Has a nice pocket for stuff. If I don't like anything about it, it's that it doesn't have as many pockets as I might want...but it's a tote...that's what totes do. I got it as a gift from a dear dear dear friend who is quite dear. It makes me smile to look at the bag because it's from my friend.


My second love is Eagle Good to Go Bag


It's freakin' huge. With 6 pockets on the outside. What I love best is the steal I got on it. It's listed for $40. I found it one day at Tuesday Morning for ...


Wait for it.


$12

It has TONS of pockets, though it is REALLY REALLY BIG...and canvassy...but I love that it has little elasticas to put my needles in. Plus the 6 pockets hold bottled water perfectly. :) Knitter get thirsty dontchaknow.


My other WOO HOO moment of the day is that I found on ebay.fr the doll my daughter lost. Assuming I win the auction: JE SUIS UNE NINJA.


Sure I had to figure out how much it is in US dollars and I have no idea how long I'll have to soak it in bactine...but.. Gwen will be so happy.

Amateur Hour

I'm not the worlds best knitter. One, I knit completely wrong. Yeah...it's not pretty. And I know I should learn the correct way, but by now, I have my gauge completely right and I just don't want to take the time to get that down again. It's just a pain. I also don't know how to do intarsia so all of you waiting for argyle socks from me...keep waiting. I don't read charted patterns well...though I am learning. I also don't know how to splice. (warning this is kinda gross and includes lots of spit). (KB...i did not follow these directions, your son will not have a spit soaked sweater).

But I had reached an end of a ball and was looking at a lot of ends...and so I spliced. Following directions I found in a really gorgeous book I borrowed from the library...I did my first splice...GLEE.

I also realized that late at night, I don't follow directions very well.

I had completely ignored part of the pattern. This affected about 8 stitches 3 rows down on both sides. So I could frog.

Or I could fix.

I chose fix. At one point I had 4 needles in my hands as I tried to create those crossy stitches only without knitting and without losing everything. I did lose my temper when Boy tried to get into bed and nearly TOUCHED the bed while I was trying to do this. I think I started to cry at one point.

But it's done. And you can't tell really where I totally screwed up. Somedays I wonder if I've been knitting 12 years or 12 days.

Oh and the book...now all I want to do is knit lace shawls...SIGH...

Frogging in the a.m.

Last night, after coming home disgruntled from my board meeting (actually being disgruntled isn't that unusual), I stayed on until the wee hours chatting with people and having yarn lust.

I went to bed in the wee-er hours thinking...I'll just get a couple rows done on the Sherwood sweater I'm working on in CotLin Nightfall for my friend KB's son. I'm working it on turbo needles (thank you BL), and it's quite lovely. It's in the round...so right now it appears I'm making a coke bottle cozy.

When I left off, I was in mid row. Thankfully I have a row counter that I jimmied together of a reg rowcounter and teeny stitch holder. (I actually went out and bought the right kind...but I haven't had a chance to put it on). So I got confused which row I was on, and I needed to do the one with tiny cross over stitches and i didn't do them. So I frogged.

In my stupor, I thought I only needed to do only 3 instead of starting the two new section of cabley goodness on each end (i have no idea how to explain this without charts and a power point, so you're going to have to trust me). So I got to the end of the rowish area. Oh CRAP...So I frogged.

Third time was the charm and then I just stopped.

So much for productivity.