WIP Wednesday - Honey Cowl

Proof I've actually made a decision recently:

That's no small thing. Decisions are my nemesis. (I'm lumping "decisions" together as a singular threat to my day-to-day life, so I'm justifying the number agreement there, despite the verb, in a weak attempt to appease the grammar gods. And I don't know what the plural of "nemesis" is. Nemesi? And can you really have more than one nemesis? I don't think so, Johnny Snow.)

I decided on the Honey Cowl, because it seemed to be the easiest to cast on at the moment I was deciding. And, I got the chance to pet Melanie's honey cowl that weekend, so that was incentive. I'm already halfway through the second ball, so it'll be time for another decision before too long...sigh...

What I Did on my Christmas Vacation - Part 3: Presents and Lace

This is the last Christmas post, I swear.

Way back in November I broke my favorite coffee mug and I was very sad about it. But it's all better now because I got an extra special one for Christmas! Check it (but don't wreck it):

Also, got this super snazzy shawl pin from Designs by Romi - so much love! And now I have to knit dozens of shawls so I have plenty of excuses to wear it.

(Thanks for my super awesome presents, Barb! Love you!)

I also knit a lace shawl - Summer Flies with an alternate ending. More on this little guy in another post.

P.S. I should get around to committing to some resolutions. I've been taking my time to think about it, considering my massive resolution fail last year. I am determined to decide what about me is most broken and what knitting projects need love the most by the end of the month. 

P.P.S. I hate the new Blogger interface. And I think I might need to jazz up my blog.

WIP Wednesday - Karin, still & bunnies

I'm still working on the Karin Wristwarmers. I haven't done much knitting since I've been home from holiday. Any progress made has been at the two knitting meetups I've been to in 2012. I have managed to finish one of the gloves, sans thumb:

I think my issue is that these gloves are literally painful to knit, but I don't know what to start next so I don't have a project to flip to when I need a break from cotton unless I want to spend 5+ hours on a repeat. I've been thinking about what I want to cast on, but I can't seem to make a decision. One option is the Helix Scarf from Jane Austen Knits 2011. I have one skein of Malabrigo Lace in a pretty brown that would be perfect. Option two is the Honey Cowl that everybody I know is knitting, and I'm incredibly jealous that they are knitting it and will own it and I'm not. My friend Mel bought me Madelinetosh DK in the Composition Book colorway for my birthday and I really want to try it because it will be my first tactile experience with MadTosh. But, I've been a little itchy to knit another lace shawl since I finished one over the holiday (more on that in a later post), so option three is Lazy Katy in this gorgeous skein of Meilenweit Solo Tono that my stepmom bought me from Coordinated Colors in Yorktown, VA:

 

I have the yarn and patterns for all three and I just need to pick one.

What I should be working on is stuff for the rabbit rescue craft fairs coming up. I have a few balls of the newish trendy mesh yarn to knit up, and I thought I'd mix in a few pom-pom scarves because I just can't help myself. I also made this little guy as a prototype:

 

We're planning to make these as part of the Make Mine Chocolate campaign at Rabbit Day 2012, so I needed to play with it to make sure it was actually going to work. I used some scrap felt I had on hand and drew a bunny template on paper. He needs a face still. His grand purpose in life is to hold a lollipop by sliding the stick through the loops in the back.

WIP Wednesday - Karin Wristwarmers

I bought this beautiful green Noro Shirakaba last month at Admit Ewe Knit when I spied it sitting oh-so-prettily in the Wall of Noro, and finally got the chance to start knitting it into something. It's a cotton/silk/wool blend in gorgeous saturated colors that's much softer than other Noro yarns due to the cotton content. I decided on the Karin Wristwarmers since I've never knit a pair of fingerless gloves for myself and I love fingerless gloves. Love, love, love.

The picture really doesn't do the color justice. I found the pattern to be a bit wonky to start. To get gauge I had to go up to a US 10 needle when the pattern called for a US 7, only for it to be way too big. I went back to the seven, ignoring the gauge and it's knitting up perfectly. The take away: gauge swatches are for chumps. This is not a good lesson.

Also, while the cotton makes the yarn really nice and soft, it's hard on the hands. Well, at least my poor, arthritic hands. I think I can manage it through this project and will just have to take a break from cotton for a little while to recover.

P.S. I was curious what "shirakaba" translated to, and best I can tell is "white birch." From wikipedia:
"The Shirakabaha (白樺派, literally ‘the White Birch Group’) was a Japanese literary movement centered on the magazine Shirakaba, first published in 1910. It also refers to members of the group who share the same ideas and literary style." I don't know what that has to do with yarn.

WIP Wednesday - Shaelyn

I decided to put a little time into one of the larger projects in my WIP basket: Shaelyn.

The shawl is beautiful and the yarn is divine, and I really want to have this shawl. But I don't seem to be all that keen on actually knitting it. After three 22 row repeats, I realized I couldn't complete a repeat in one sitting, so it got shoved to the side in favor of instant gratification. Earlier this week I added the fourth repeat. I timed it: four and a half hours. And there are at least three more repeats to go...sigh..

WIP Wednesday - The Basket

I'm taking a page out of my friend Tiffany's book and starting some regular weekly blog posts, the first being WIP Wednesday. I don't have anything majorly exciting on the needles at the moment, except the Christmas present that I can't talk about yet even though I'm pretty sure my sister doesn't read my blog, but that doesn't mean I don't have all kinds of WIP craziness.

My stepmom gave me this huge basket for Christmas a couple years ago. It's become the metaphorical cave for all my hibernating WIPs. And it's stuffed to the brim.

As a much needed reality check, for my first WIP Wednesday, I'm going to list everything in that basket. As a bonus, it also becomes the Stuff I Need to Get Done list. (I would add "Before I Start Any New Projects" to that title, but, really, who am I kidding?)

WIP aka Stuff I Need to Get Done:

• Daddy & Me Field Cap - For my nephew, Kurt, but going to be frogged since I made him something else.
• Asymmetric Cardi - Knit-along with Tiffany and Deb. Back piece, which is the biggest piece, is nearly finished but I haven't touched it in a couple months.
• KidLin Shawl - This isn't coming out like I thought it would. I may just finish it, and either frog it or keep it depending on how much I like the finished shawl.
• Throw Rug - Started this because I figured the best way to make my stash look smaller was to knit up all my bulky yarn. Still really love this rug, so this will get finished.
• Newfoundland Mittens - I like these mittens, but I may frog them and use the yarn for something else. I got about six more balls of this yarn from my friend Melanie recently, so I'm thinking bigger.
• Shaelyn - I love this shawl so much, but I got to the point where I couldn't complete a repeat in one sitting so I abandoned it in favor of instant gratification. This will be finished.
• Loopy Lace Scarf - This is only a couple inches in. It's meant to be for my grandma, so I should probably finish it, though I kind of think she'd like a baby doll instead.
• Ninja Bun - He's so close to being finished! I just need to suck it up and do it.
• Clementine Shawlette - This was part of that 11 shawls in 2011 delusion I had earlier this year. Going to finish at least this one, but it so won't be before the end of the year.
• Best Bunny - All I have left to do are the arms and legs and seam everything together. That's actually kind of a tall order. Seaming is the worst.
• Fetching - Ran out of yarn with only a few rows left, so these just need to be frogged. :(
• Breast Cancer Awareness Scarf - I really like this scarf so still want to do it, but given that I started it in February 2008 and haven't touched it since, I'm going to have to rip it back and start over.
• Brr Baby Beanies - Making two of these for my nephews as birthday gifts. Almost done. I feel really bad about how late they are. :<
• Magic Loop Two-at-a-Time Socks - Knit-along with my knitting group. Grr. But dammit, I will finish them.
• Purple Flames Scarf - Based on a stitch pattern in the Vogue Stitchionary. I've only done a few inches, but I still like it after a year or so so I think I'll finish it.
• Dustifur - Dust Bunny snuggly that I'm just making up as I go along. He needs ears and a tail.

And that is my WIP list. I may have a few other WIPs floating around that haven't made it into the basket. Since I don't have proper links, here are a couple pics of the purple scarf and an earless Dustifur:

And speaking of Tiffany, she supplied the basil Goose is munching in this video:

Peace, Knitting & Bunnies,

~ Meg

A Story...

...published. I haven't mentioned this before but I had a wee story published in an online literary magazine. It's a 100 word story, because that's their gimmick. Fair warning, the story starts a little something like this: "Kitty. Kitty Cat. Cat. Meow!" So... yeah. Don't go into it expecting much. ;)

Anywho, if you're so inclined, you can read it here.

Speaking of writing, I'm pitifully behind on NaNoWriMo. Current word count is 8,811 with eight days left. But, because I apparently can't sleep when normal people sleep, I'm attempting to reset my whacked internal clock by staying up all night and all day so I can go to bed at a normal time like normal people. That gives me about five middle-of-the-night hours to write deliriously on my "novel" given that I'm not really coherent enough to do anything else. Here's hoping my word count grows by leaps and bounds in the next 24 hours.

More than anything, I really just want to finish and "win" so I can get the 50% off coupon for Scrivener, because it's awesome.

~ Meg

On the Needles:
Just finished the Cover Cowl from Knit Simple Holiday 2011. Knit very quickly and happily out of Moda Dea Tweedle Dee, which is sadly discontinued. Opted to forgo the buttons in favor of pretties to hold it closed. The only pretty I have at the moment is an owl clasp my sister made for me. Note to self: must find more pretties.

A Little Something Special

Looking for something unique for the special guy on your holiday shopping list? Look no further! (View at your own risk. You have been warned.)

As far as my holiday shopping goes, the fam has decided to do the drawing names thing since cash is tight these days for everyone. This year I have my sister Becky and a $50 limit. I've collected a few little things, and I am knitting something, but can't say what for sneakiness purposes.

~ Meg

NaNoWriMo Word Count: 4014

The Balcony Files - EP11022011

I wander out on my balcony at odd times in the wee hours of the night when I can't sleep, and sometimes I see things. Last night, maybe around 3am (I don't usually check the time, and instead wander around like a sleepy little zombie owl), I was standing out on my balcony and saw something...really strange.

Are you ready for it?

Okay...

I thought I might have seen something sort of like a...ghost.

Now, I'm not entirely sure I believe in ghosts, and why one was wandering outside my apartment complex, I have no idea, but hear me out. Here is the view from my balcony:

See that area I boxed in red? There's a street light nearby that highlights the whole area and it's clear through to the street. It's fuzzier in the picture than if you were looking at it in person. Anyway, I was just standing there looking in that direction, when I saw a semi-transparent shadow move from the tree that's kind of alone there in the middle and drift toward the trees on the right. It was raised off the ground, and I could still see the street through it, but it was definitely some kind of darkish smear. If I had to guess, it was maybe about two feet in length but positioned at around chest height if I was standing down there with it.

After I freaked out a little bit and found my cool again, I tried standing in different places, and squinting my eyes, and all sorts of things to see if I could recreate it. But I couldn't. So it remains a mystery.

Went back to bed, only to get up about an hour later since then I couldn't sleep because I kept thinking about the ghost that lives in the Charlie Brown trees outside my building, and wondering if it would just drift inside if I opened the door. This time, no repeats of ghostly apparitions, but I did see a deer wandering in that same place. He was just walking along the roadside all alone. I've seen bunnies, the occasional fox or two, and a possum walking along the top of the tennis court fence, but that's the first time I've seen a deer. I suppose hunting season drives them out, which makes me sad. Be careful driving and keep an eye out for them, won't you?

So...anybody have any explanations to offer up for the possible ghostly thing that lives a handful of feet from my apartment? 'Cause any logical explanation would be welcome.

~ Meg


On the Needles:
One Row Lace Scarf knitted with Rozetti Polaris in the Leonids colorway. Quick, mindless knit that looks much more complicated than it is. Really digging the sparkles.

NaNoWriMo Word Count: 3397

Resolutions? What Resolutions?

I am so, so bad. Ridiculously bad. It's August - does that freak anybody else out? - and I haven't completed a single resolution. And, on top of that, the whole stash busting thing? Let me just say in my defense that I'm pretty sure it hasn't grown any larger.

So...tonight I went through one bin of yarn and entered it all into a spreadsheet. You caught that, right? One bin. My current tally: 149 balls of yarn. I have another smaller bin, 2 large bags, a chair, a huge round basket, and two large boxes of cotton left to go through.

And I've given away yarn just to get it out of my apartment. Two balls, just today. When my awesome knitting group had a yarn swap back in January, I got rid of a whole trash bag full of yarn.

Anyway, we're planning to have another yarn swap soon, so I've started another swap bag. But it's so hard to let go. There are so many possibilities for each and every ball. What if I need that one particular ball one day? I'm really trying to be good because it's out of control. I've made a point of entering planned/possible patterns for each ball of yarn in my spreadsheet, so if I really have nothing to make with it, I should just get rid of it. It's going to take some time to come to grips with it all.

More exciting news...

I designed and knit my very own lace shawl!

Now I just need to knit it in a couple different weights because I really think the cobweb is too light, and write it up.

Also, though I haven't completed one yet doesn't mean I'm forgetting about those resolutions. When my friends Deb & Tiffany & I went out yarn shopping this weekend (bad, I know, but I only bought one ball) we decided that we're going to do a sweater knit-along:

It's the Asymetric Cardi from Knit Simple Fall 2010. Super excited for that. And it's stash busting because I have 10 balls of Lion Brand Wool-ease sitting in my stash.

Signing off for now. Final yarn tally to come.

Peace out,
~ Meg

11 Shawls in 2011

Because I like to make my life nearly impossible, I decided today that on top of my other knitting resolutions I'm also going to attempt the 11 shawls in 2011, which technically falls under stash busting, so it's all good. And, I made a list of patterns to complete with the yarn I'm going to use:

1. Chinook Scarf in Cestari DK Wool
2. Clementine Shawl in NaturallyCaron.com Spa
3. Peacock Shawlette in Knit Picks Shadow Lace
4. Albino Peacock Shawlette in Knit Picks Shimmer Lace
5. Stolen Moments in Cascade Ecological Wool
6. Snowflake in Cascade Ecological Wool
7. Summer Flies in Malabrigo Lace
8. Mezquita in Malabrigo Lace
9. Shaelyn in Alpaca DK (bought at the 2010 NC Fiber Fest)
10. Laminaria in Alpaca Sox (got 900 yard at knitting group yarn swap)
11. Montego Bay Scarf in Cherry Tree Hill Sock

The Peacock Shawlette is a test knit for the Albino Peacock Shawlette, which is for my sister's wedding. I'm combining several patterns to come up with what she wants, so I'm not entirely sure how that's all going to turn out.

So that's the plan. If only I was this organized in my non-knitting life.

I've started the Chinook, Clementine, and the Stolen Moments shawl; hoping to finish the Chinook by the end of the month so I can be entered in the April prize drawings. I'm getting a late start, but those monthly drawings are definitely incentive to keep up with it.

Here's the progress on the Chinook. I'm a little farther along now, about halfway done.

And I also finished up this little purple shawl, though it still needs to be blocked. It's actually not enough yardage to qualify for the 11 shawls in 2011, but it's still pretty. :)

Progress...and not

Look what I got done today...slippers!

These are Pocketbook Slippers, and they're fast & easy, so somewhat addicting. It's also kind of fun how they magically transform from a little purse to foot-sized slippers. Not terribly stylish, but concessions must be made. So, progress on the Pound of Caring Challenge. I think I might actually use up the rest of the hideously yellow Pound of Love to make more of these for The Pink Slipper Project.

What's not getting done...

2-at-a-time magic loop practice socks for my knitting group's sock knit-along. We thought we'd learn to do this together so we could help each other out along the way. I started these on June 5th. The last time I touched them: June 6th. I think this whole knit-along thing may have been my idea, despite my dislike of socks in general, and I'm incredibly jealous of everyone else in the group who already has at least one, if not more, completed adult-sized pairs of socks. It's just shameful, really.

Plan B - Beer & Knitting

So, I co-organize a knitting group here in Raleigh with my friends Mel & Deb, The Raleigh Knitting Meetup Group. (And, yes, our name is lame. We've talked about changing it one of these days.) Anyway, we had a meetup scheduled today at one of our normal coffee shop places (we move around a bit). Before the meetup, Deb & I took a trip out to DownTown Knits, a new yarn shop in Apex. It was really cute and had some interesting yarn that I haven't seen at some of the other yarn stores in the area. But getting back to the story, when we made it to the coffee shop some of our lovely knitters we're stranded outside - the coffee shop was closed! This was kind of not cool.

We've been going to this coffee shop for a while now, and we schedule ahead of time, so for them just to be closed - no note, no message on the phone, nothing - was...grr. Not to mention that the last time we went, they had scheduled a speech with a political candidate and we found ourselves trapped & shushed in enemy territory, which is a story for another time, though not a terribly interesting one, so don't get your hopes up. ;) So, we've been slighted twice in the last couple weeks, and are feeling not as excited about this place as we used to be. Unfortunate.

Luckily, there was an Irish pub next door, so we left a note on the door for our fellow knitters (lucky that we were able to scrounge up paper, a pen, and tape between us), and took ourselves and our knitting bags to have a fun afternoon of beer & knitting. The lighting wasn't great, but there was beer, food, knitting, and good company, so not too shabby. ;) And, as it turned out, the parents of the guy who was waiting on us have a knitting related business, Nancy's Knit Knacks. Sounds like fate to me. ;)

And I got carded - bonus! Nothing like getting carded to make a girl feel young. :) This being in my 30's business is giving me an anxiety disorder...

Bad Knitting Mojo

Everything I've tried to do this week, I've jacked up in some way. Was hoping to finish a pair of Fetching (for me!) in some super soft Plymouth Yarn Suri Merino - ran out of yarn. Multiple attempts at starting the Spritely Hat (first attempt at starting Xmas knitting!) - can't get gauge. Tried casting on for a Snowflake, and while the cast on went without a hitch and I knitted along the first row, I then realized I forgot one tiny "K1" at the beginning of the row. No wonder multiples of 20 were not adding up to 261. Gah! So everything is ripped out, and I'm giving up on knitterly pursuits for today.

Meanwhile, I tried for sympathy from the only other living being in the house, my disapproving furkid Goose, who just stared at me with a look that distinctly said, "Aren't you forgetting something? Dinner. Now." I think I can at least manage that...

To top it all off, I totally forgot about a major yarn sale this weekend at a LYS! Dang. Technically the sale runs through Tuesday, but with my luck all the good stuff will be gone. Will swing by tomorrow, just in case...

And...I ended up frogging this:

Wispish - a slight variation on Knitty's Wisp. I was originally making it to wear to my sister's wedding, decided that it wasn't going to work, and then further decided today that it was never going to work. It was so close to being done...oh well. As it turns out, I have something else in mind for this yarn that I think I might actually wear. So, frogged & repurposed.

On a more productive note, I started a Ravelry group, Pound of Caring Challenge. The general gist is that you commit to knitting a pound of yarn for charitable organizations of your choice each year. It was originally a personal challenge to myself, but, lo and behold, I found some others who were willing to knit along with me. My first project for the challenge is Little V-stitch Blanket:

Not such a fan of Lion Brand Pound of Love. While it's convenient and cheap (especially with a 40% coupon), it splits like crazy, it's kind of plastic-y, and just doesn't look all that great. I was particularly enchanted with how the yarn pulled out of the center in a big tangled mess. :)

Perhaps my luck will return after another sleep?

Pom-Poms make me happy.

I started knitting hard-core because of eyelash yarn. I picked up needles for the first time when I was 19 and knitted off again, on again (mostly off) for a few years, until at age 24, my stepmom brought home this funky eyelash yarn and I was intrigued. I had never seen anything like it, only having knit with Red Heart and the like. Since that first eyelash scarf 6 years ago, I have been knitting non-stop, although I've moved beyond the novelty, thankfully.

While novelty yarn isn't my favorite, there are a few exceptions. The first is Yarn Bee Infatuation. I used to make drop-stitch scarves out of this yarn for the Heartland Rabbit Rescue craft fairs when I lived in OK. It is super soft due to the nylon, kind of quirky, and always a big seller and therefore a good thing for the bunnies. Sadly, since it is a Hobby Lobby brand, I can't get it anymore since I moved to Raleigh. The second is Moda Dea Dream - so soft, but disappointingly discontinued. I still have some in my stash, but I'm hoarding it 'cause I know that it's all I'll ever have.

My newest novelty yarn crush is Red Heart Pomp-a-Doodle - little puffs of happiness on a string. I ran across it randomly at Michaels and decided to knit a few scarves for my nieces as birthday presents. Here is the result:

Each scarf only took one ball and about an hour to make. Now, I wouldn't personally wear one of these scarves myself, but I loved knitting them. My favorite colorway is the blue-green shoreline and I would like nothing better than to knit an entire coverlet out of it. Both the knitting itself and the snuggling afterward would be pure bliss. Never thought I'd be raving about pom-pom novelty yarn, but there you go. ;) Try it folks, it's perfectly delightful.

Gratuitous bunny shot: Goose in a pile of pom-poms...

On another note, I also finished this today:

The pattern is Baby Berry Hat, and I think I would have enjoyed knitting it more if I had picked different yarn (Caron Simply Soft & Bernat Berella 4 - not a fan but have sooo much of it in my stash). Very cute little hat, though.