Okay I suck

So I've been away...

Sorry about that.

I started a podcast...woot!

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Go.

Soon...hopefully...we'll be back on itunes.

Sweet Georgia Ninjas

So my cat is a diabetic...he needs insulin 2x a day. Which means I never get to leave my house for a weekend again. Because said cat is evil and most of my friends are scared of him (he's super nuzzly) to me. So BL, the goddess that she is, offered to do it. I love that woman.

Anyway.

I go off and buy her yarn because that is the perfect "thank you for sticking sharp needles into my cat" gift.

I went to Sweet Georgia Yarns (because BL had sent me the link, and if e-mails could be covered in drool, this one would be dripping). I got her a couple skeins of sock and a couple skeins of lace.

Luckily enough, the package came while I was away and I got to be on the phone while BL squeeed. Unfort though, the sock was worsted weight. Right color...wrong yarn.

I am a firm believer that the test of a person or a company is not whether or not they make mistakes, but how they handle them when they do. Thus Sweet Georgia being a NINJA.

I e-mailed "hey...uh, how can we fix this"

Got an e-mail the next morning. Sweet Georgia had already sent new yarn, and told me to keep the other skeins. Which is way more than she had to do.

So yeah, go buy her yarn (the two of you that read this).

Oh and the yarn is really amazingly gorgeous and beautiful.

Two FOs

Meet my two new FOs.

So on ravelry they are doing wrestlemania 2009. Basically it's a drive to finish every project on your needles (or in my case...those things I've been meaning to do).

I finished my icequeen...that thing around my neck...and Gwen's dress (isn't it soooo pretty). Both I'm really pleased with. It seems I'm getting a hang of this knitting thingy...

Does NOT Count

I am not updating my "haven't bought yarn" counter.

Even though KP is shipping something to me right now.

The shipment includes 3 things

• --3 balls of serrano shine sport--this doesn't count because I didn't buy enough yarn for a baby blanket I'm working on. OBVIOUSLY I need the yarn, and it was my own fault that it wasn't in the orig order
• --2 balls of blackberry WOTA--this doesn't count because it's for my mom's mittens. And I bought it previously, but the thrumming wasn't going right and all the thrumming was all over the outside and so I couldn't frog it because it will be yucky.
• --1 set of size 3 needles--this doesn't count because i am suspicious that one of my 3s from an orig set was actually a large 2. Since I can't prove it, I must replace and accept that I will now have 9 size 3 needles, and 6 large 2s

None of this counts. I checked the rule book. HA.

My correction is up

Glee. A while back I told you I sent a correction to interweave knits. And by you, I mean the two people who even read this blog (one being me). Sigh...

no one knows my lonely dreams
no one hears my lonely screams

Anywho...the corrections is up.

WOOT

it's the correction in the instructions for turning the heel.

http://www.interweave.com/corrections/HPS-p98_web.pdf

worship me as the knitting ninja I am

In other news, my name on ravelry changed. Not by some mystical force, but because Jennifer8 was as exciting as my high school boyfriend (he is not one of the two people who read this, so I figure he's fair game).

It is now NINJAJEN...

woot.

The Quest That Was

There once was a quest.

A quest to not buy yarn until all of the projects were done.

But what happens when an impossible quest meets impossibly gorgeous yarn?

The quest dies.


Meet http://www.vanderrockyarns.com/.


Or as I like to call it...that bar right outside the AA meeting. I saw it. I bought it. And I got others to buy it too.




Lead and Ketamine. (yes Ketamine is a horse tranquilizer)...

In my defense, it was all Canadian money, which shouldn't really count. I mean, it's Canadian...

And it was really pretty. And it was less that 20..well if you only bought on of them it was. And the store just opened Monday.

Sigh.

Counter reset.

It's been 0 days since I bought yarn, and no BL, I don't know what I'm making with it.

The Quest Continues

So right now I have three things on the hooks, 1 thing on the needles...all gifts. This doesn't count the three pairs of socks I have in progress. One of which I'm going to rip out.

I cast on a baby blanket for a friend. I usually crochet tight, so I went up from a G to an H. I get the base done which is 7 square motifs. And it's long.

Luckily I was with my knitting group--which OMIGOD I LOVE. And i look at them: "okay guys, this is supposed to be 7 motifs by 10 motifs. This is 7"

"That's not a baby blanket, Jen, that's an afghan"

Good to know, so i'm making it 7 by 6. I think it'll be fine, and I'm not doing the edging, cuz it's dumb. Sorry but picot chains are just a waste of yarn in most cases. Plus it's for a boy. And it's just dumb.

If i have enough yarn, I'll do a crab stitch on the outside, which adds a really nice beaded edge.

We'll see how it turns out.

When not knitting

I've been cleaning

No really.

Tonight, I seriously cleaned for 5 hours. FIVE HOURS.

I cleaned out old food from my cabinets, merged bottles of red wine vinegar...and moved appliances around. I lemon oiled (gosh i love this stuff) my knife handles. I scrubbed the floor.

This would not even be worth a blog, if it wasn't just so freakin' weird.

I also rearranged my kitchen. So hopefully I'll actually use some of my space instead of using the kitchen table as a crap repository. Now, I'm trying to chill and do some crocheting on a new project.

My quest continues. Until ALL of my gift projects are out of this house, not a skein of non-for-gift yarn will come in...

Cast On, Cast Off--The Caster

So last night, I finished off the second of two tooth fairy pillows I made for two adorable little girls.

I think knitting projects should all be treated like socks. You finish one, you cast on another...or you'll just slide into the abyss of lethargy.

So at 2:30 am, I cast on thrummed mittens, and I really need to make some thrums. I'm on row 14 of the cuff. The color is PERFECT and will look delish with the alpaca roving I got for the thrums....

The Quest

So here's my quest.

I have a lot of things I have said I would make for people that are not me. I have also a lot of yarn that I bought for people that are me.

My new rule: No buying yarn for me until I finish ALL of the projects I have said I would do.

BL will kill me as she is determined to turn me into a selfish knitter. But honestly, yarn has become my new shoes. I have bought it for no other reason than...it was really pretty and the store was nice. I have bought it with no idea what I will do with said yarn. BL will ask me what I'm going to do with my pretty collection of sock yarns. Uh...socks? Judging my her dismay...she wanted a more specific answer.

Pretty socks?

Today I did buy yarn, but for more projects that I said I would do and haven't yet. In the last 5 days, I've finished 2 sweaters (and sent them from my house) and a tooth.

I am going to get through this endless stash of projects. At least before x-mas projects hit.

Fastest Project Ever

Omigosh, this project came together in 3 days.

After having the heck of the last project, where I swear I cast on 17 times, it was so nice having a project that just worked. Plain and simple.

I've never done embroidery on knitting but I'm rather pleased by how it turned out. Quite pleased actually.

FINISHED

Yes, those are little elephant buttons.

Woot.

How exactly did I tick off the knitting gods?

What exactly did I do?

 

Did I go out with their sister and then not call?

What?

All I know is that I've cast this yarn on more times than Dolly Parton has dyed her hair.

Amanda's production using my production

Meet Benedict...in the blanket I made him...GLEEE

A) Gauge sucks B) ooh, I can e-mail in my blog postings...

So gauge hates me.

A lot. I'm not sure what I did to gauge. Okay, I do know. Most of the time I ignore gauge like an ex at a friend's wedding. (not that I have any experience with that.)

So I'm making a sweater for a friend's baby. The baby is now a toddler, because I have more yarn than time. So it started with this pattern.

Cute huh? it's called chaos...you roll the dice to determine the cables.

I got a bit of the way in...a) it looked like ass b) it was a size 2T and the child is turning 3...

Back to ravelry to find new patterns...

Cute, huh? oooh. pretty. should work great. This is where gauge stands up and throws champagne in my face (this did not actually happen, I'm just continuing the simile--it's a simile because I used "like" an ex).

I generally do not check gauge on kid's things--because...well, it will eventually fit them SOMETIME. It's not like they won't fit it at one point in time. So I cast on 154 on size 5 needles. Making 4T---moving right along...footloose and fancy free. Do the 10 rows of garter...WOW this looks...uh...long

that's 33" of toddler waist goodness...where I'm supposed to have 26".

I do gauge. Omigod I'm off. I have 20 stiches by 26 rows on size 7s...yeah that ain't 4 inches. Try 5" Go down a size needle...nope, what about another. What about a pattern size. What about two.

By the end I'm casting on 140 stitches on size 3s and still the schematic is laughing at me. I've got 28" if I squint hard. And I'm supposed to have 26"

And it's only going to get worse.

I tried to ignore. I really did. I thought "oh, it'll fit eventually" but ya know what. That pattern and this yarn are NOT supposed to date. They aren't supposed to talk. They should be separated by a continent.

I gave up..

I found new pattern.

New pattern. New cast on. But I did check gauge. Went down a size...but I got it...

I now respect gauge...I understand how important it is...I fully embrace how needed it is. I love you, Guage. I mean it. I will never deny you again...

Until next time...when I think..."dang, I don't want to knit 4 inches"

Don't argue with a pattern

So i've been coveting the viper socks--yesterday I went to the maryland sheep and wool festival (I would link, but it's over right by the time you read this...why tease.

I went hoping I would find the perfect yarn for this sock...Most of my morning was playing "not it" because

i knew the yarn

I found it on etsy a month ago...I knew it. So every yarn I saw..."nope" ...not sparkly...not right. not perfect...not the right one.

because this here is the YARN...this is it...and i can't fight it.

so I bought it. Here's the link to the store...

However I did buy yarn from ellen's halfpint and mistralee farm

off to go make sangria

New f/o: for baby benedict

More F/Os: Blackrose socks

oooh for me me me

You Know What I HATE

When i spend more time untangling a ball of yarn than I do knitting with it.

Sigh.

hopefully new FO coming soon.

Jen= SOCK NINJA

So I sent my correction in to interweave knits...on the sock...read below

And I was right.

I got this today:

Hi Jen,

Thank you for taking the time to contact Interweave with your explanation and spotting this error for us. I have sent your recommendations about the Braided Gem Socks from Knitting Socks with Handpainted Yarns to the book's technical editor and she agrees with you. This will be a correction we will make for future reprints and post online here http://www.interweave.com/corrections/knitting.asp as soon as possible.

Thanks again for your sharp eyes!

Best Wishes,
Lisa Quaratino
Marketing and Books Dept.
Interweave

So yes, watching me knit is as painful as watching water buffalo dance the paso double...but...DANG IT, I can fix patterns!