TAKING BACK [THE KNIT]

    

Needless to say [but I am saying it anyway?] that is a swatch and then the ensuing sock. If I wasn't so lazy they would have been posted with the usual swatch-to-garment timeline one has. But I have been crazy busy. I was at Michael's last Friday, after guilt-tripping my mom into taking me, and picked up some Moda Dea Sassy Stripes yarn in the "stormy" colorway. I like how it looks almost like Fair Isle. I'm not sure if it's supposed to look like that or that is how it just managed to line itself up. I'm thinking a little of both. Anyway, I am using the Pippi Kneestockings pattern from SnB. (I think that is the name of it. Something like that at least. And I have been knitting from those books a lot lately. I feel like a knitting n00b or something!) This sock is coming along great, I am about to start the toe in the next round or two. My gauge was a little bit bigger than the pattern called for, which I figured would be good because I have big calves* and fairly wide feet. And boy was I right. I have burned right through this sock, and have taken it everywhere with me; I love the portability.

 

I just realize I still have not taken pictures of my finished Mariah. Someday, I guess.

 

I had a dance competition this weekend that went horribly. I placed in one dance out of eight. I only placed because I was one of only six girls that got through the dance, and thus placed by default. A total bummer. Especially considering I was really excited about the dances I was doing on Sunday. (Jig, Hornpipe, Blue Bonnets, and Village Maid in case by some weird chance a Highland dancer ends up reading this. And they were all cut steps.) So, needless to say I was in a shitty mood the rest of the day. It is really a terrible feeling to feel like you did well in something but have the results reflect otherwise. I was definitely really down on myself and dancing for a bit. Anyway, I danced all day Saturday in the heat, and then went to a great show and partied for a while, not getting home until 3am. I had to get up at 11, and I am the kind of girl who likes her sleep, so I knew I was going to be tired but said what the hell, I only live once and I am going to have some fun. The next morning my mom wakes me up at 10:30 and tells me to get ready, etc. I call my boyfriend and tell him to get up because he is coming to my competition to watch me dance. So we all get up. Get ready. Go. I compete. Mess up. Cry.  Don't place. MURDER my feet and am in worst pain ever. Go to Wendy's {yum!}. Go home. Notice sunburn. End up going to hangout with boy at 11:00 at night, and almost tell him I am too tired. Halfway through the car ride to his house, he pulls out the roses you see to the left since we have been together a month! I was too preoccupied with my competition and all that to really even think about it. What a sweetheart. I was so surprised/excited/happy! My day went from super fun, to beyond shitty, to just plain wonderful.  To the right is my roses again, and you can kind of see my sock in the background. Yeah. I am drying them because I adore dried flowers. [/gush]

Gratuitous cute doggy picture:

 

Take that everyone with "oh isn't my kitty so cute, look at him play with my yarn. oh he's so fluffy and darling! what a furry little shitbag" pictures!

 

*When I say I have big calves let me put that in perspective for you. I was thinking about this the other day. I have had to measure my calves a number of times to get argyle knee socks made to match my kilt for my Highland costume. They are about 15" around. (which is the maximum circumfrence you can have to get seam-free tartan hose from the sock maker I use. Regardless, I like fully-fashioned more.) I was thinking about that last week, and somehow Gone With The Wind popped into my mind, and I realized that Scarlett O'Hara's waist is 18" around, pre-baby! Now, I know she was crammed into a corset, probably with a fractured rib or two, but shit! I feel like an Amazon. I routinely have a hard time getting tight pants off/over my calves. And they're really not even that big, especially for a dancer

long story short, somehow I made it from lurking craftster to lurking cafepress looking at knitting related stuff. who knows. anyway, i found funny stuff, and kind of don't want to forget it but since I made a list I figured I might as well share it. This was I at least know where it is, as well.

http://www.cafepress.com/buy/knitting/-/pv_design_details... I love all the craftster logos and such. they are all so cute.

http://www.cafepress.com/buy/knitting/-/pv_design_details... i also like this.

http://www.cafepress.com/buy/knitting/-/pv_design_details... this made me laugh SO hard.

http://www.cafepress.com/buy/knitting/-/pv_design_details... i am definitely getting this on my knuckles in the future. [funny story, a few of my friends and i love giving each other fake knuckle tatts. in the past mine have said "FIRE PUSS". oh the joys of being redheaded!]

http://www.cafepress.com/buy/knitting/-/pv_design_details... that reminded me of christine ...

http://www.cafepress.com/buy/knitting/-/pv_design_details... and this reminded me of pam!
[amusing anecdote #2: i took a scrapbooking class in which we made tags. the example had a big "E" on it and said "enjoy life" all cutely written around it. mine had a "W" and said "worship satan" in the same cute letters. 'twas great.]

and last but not least, this http://www.cafepress.com/buy/knitting/-/pv_design_details... might be the funniest thing i have seen all day.

In knitting news, I sewed the zipper on Mariah. Pictures to come some day when I actually do my hair, make up, and get dressed! I spent too much time today fixing my sewing machine. Also, it has been decided I hate Mariah {for sure} because of funny neckline issues. That will be discussed with the pictures.

so of course that means it's time for pictures!

pre-felt:    

post-felt:      Those are both of the "Letter Have It" bags together. The dramatic difference in size is due to me changing felting time, hottness of water, etc. I hate them both, as it turns out. I'm not sure if it is because I hated putting them together and they were a pain in the ass, or because the handles felted retardedly, or what. But they belong to my sister now. good riddance.

 

This is all my swag from JoAnn the other day. From left to right there is:

DMC Linea stencils. With hisbiscuses, celtic knots, and flowers that remind me of cherry blossom tattoos one of my friends have.

DMC Pearl Cotton. The red one is number 666. That amused me to no end.

Fabric Pencil and Marker, to trace the stencils, etc.

Underneath all that there is a black bandana I plan to embroider. Probably with those cherry blossom-looking flowers on one side, and the knotwork on the other so I can wear it folded whichever way according to mood/what I am wearing.

Next to that, a black cosmetic bag which had the shit embroidered out of it later that day. Pictures of that later in the entry.

At the top, a zipper for Mariah!

Underneath/next to that, an iron-on of some broad with oranges. Thought it was cute. No idea what I will do with it.

Below that, some waste canvas so I can cross stitch on fabrics other than Aida cloth. I have needed this stuff for a looooong time! (If you're unfamiliar with this, basically you cut a square of it, place it where you want to cross stitch, and go about things as usual. Then when you are done you pull the stands out. It's kind of like a template.)

Needles! Several sizes.

Embroidery hoop! I seem to have lost my other 5" hoop and 3" is way to small for just about everything.

The Spring/Summer '06 issue of Vogue Knitting. A couple cute things, but nothing I am dying to knit. Vogue isn't my fave, but I couldn't find an IK. Only Interwaeve Crochet! Bummer.

And finally, a skein of the ugliest traffic cone orange yarn. For a scarf I am making for a friend who likes tacky stuff.

Needless to say, it was quite the productive trip!

 

This is the hibiscus on the cosmetic bag. It turned out really well, and is a promising start!

This is the beginning to my Aqua Teen Hungerforce cross stitch pillow, as copied from craftster. I am hating it right now, it is confusing the hell out of me. I just need to pay better attention!

So I've been neglecting this blog. I've been super busy. It was Spring Break for me last week, so I worked all day, partied all night, and knit when I could. I also tried my hand at embroidery! I do have pictures of everything, but I seem to have lost my camera connecting cord, so it's hard to put pictures up without that. (I honestly don't know where it could have gone! It sits, dutifully waiting, on the floor next to my computer. I am guessing someone moved it, thinking the floor was a bad place for it and then didn't tell me.)

On the embroidery front, things went well. I took a trip to JoAnn on Saturday and found stencils on sale, as well as a cute little cosmetic bag made solely for the purpose of being embroidered. Mine now has a hibiscus on it, although it is a different one than the one on the label. I seem to like embroidery so far, although my stitches are uneven and stem stitch has me beat. I think I just need some practice. And it is a little free-form for my tastes, sometimes. (Which is why I am a knitter and not a crocheter. I just tend to think inside the box, but in weird ways.) And somehow, while at JoAnn, I managed to buy only ONE SKEIN of yarn! I originally had 5 skeins of this, a super soft wool-cotton blend. I had no freakin' clue what I was going to do with it, and it had no price, so I ditched it. Something tells me I might end up with it the next time I venture in there. I also really liked this yarn, but me and pastels are really not buddies. I wear either crazy bright colors or black, red, and white.  Anyway, the JoAnn I went to is a new one, and it is HUGE! A lot of selection for everything, and the needle section impressed the hell out of me. They blow Michael's out of the water. I love being able to get 100% wool yarns and other nice stuff at a good price, and at a place where I can saisfy all my other crafting needs.

[I think I am skipping class because I can't stop this entry or browsing joann.com! It is 10:30, and I have class at 10:40.]

Have I ever mentioned how much I HATE Fun Fur? I'm really still lost as to the appeal of the stuff ...

 

I just thought I would mention that I love knitty's Nautie. Too freakin' cute. It reminds me of the Futurama episode "Teenage Mutant Leela's Hurdles", in which Professor Zoidberg reverts through all his stages of development, and one or two is reminiscent of Nautie. [Yes, I am a big enough dork to know the names of Futurama episodes. It might be my favorite show ever.] Anyway, I am not really a big fan of anything else in this issue of knitty. Maybe the socks, but I am not knitting socks quite yet. Hopefully I will start soon, though.

 

I got a zipper for Mariah! I have yet to sew it on, though. I hate finishing so much. Almost as much as Fun Fur!

I put Letter Have It together. Felting this afternoon. Pictures tonight/tomorrow.

I need to get a zipper for Mariah and I will be all set.

 go to class this morning. I should have. I wasn't really tired, I just didn't feel like riding the bus for almost an hour to go to a 50 minute class. So it's noon, and I'm sitting here in my bathrobe, lurking and posting. I have absolutely no idea what I'm going to do with the rest of my day. Maybe take my dog for a walk and some work in the yard.

Exciting news: I bound off for Mariah last night! I was going to finish sewing things up and weaving ends in, but it seems I have lost/misplaced not one but two yarn needles! So I can't do much in the way of sewing without a needle. My room is a total mess, but not enough of one to really lose stuff. I need to sew Letter Have It together too, so I'm just about to get either a metal detector or a large magnet to help me find one. I've only got the hood seam, and about 6" of one side seam to sew up, plus the 54353 ends to weave in. I'm hoping to be able to wear it on Sunday. But at this point that's just a goal.

I have wanted to put up pictures all freakin' week, but couldn't since I haven't seen my camera since St. Patrick's Day. Yeah, I have friends who borrow extremely expensive, precious things and don't return them for long periods of time. Needless to say, this will be last time for a while that I lend anything to any one. Anyway, I borrowed my sister's camera today, and took a couple of pictures:  The first is Mariah. I am working on the hood, which seems to be the most confusing part. Every few rows she says [WS] patt as set (or something along those lines) and it's really never clearly said what the pattern as set is! So I am hoping I do everything correctly and I won't end up with some big mess in the end that I will have to frog back. The directions for the short row section were really unclear as well. I am kind of glad I can see how things are supposed to be in the end and work them out that way. If I didn't think in a mechanical way like that, I would probably have been really confused!

 

The second is the Fiery Bolero from an IK issue a year or two old. (In the smaller picture it looks like there is some wavy pattern or something on it, but it is really just plain stockinette.) I really like it, but don't have #3 circs to do the ribbing around the edges, so I think I'm going to frog it. It's been in this state for 6+ months, maybe a year and I just can't take it anymore. It's done with Cotton Ease, which I love. I think I am going to frog it and make a boobholder, maybe a modified boobholder top, like the ones I have seen on craftser and such. I like the idea of puffy sleeves on a shirt but not on a shrug, and I am debating whether I should make the shrug minus the puffs or the top with them. I need to finish Mariah and the Letter Have It Bag before I do much more pertaining to this. I am trying to keep WsIP to a minimum!

 

But I'm blogging instead. I've got the left front of Mariah done, and all I've got left is the right front before I put it all together and do the yoke and hood. I'm so excited! My first big sweater is almost done. I hadn't realized that the fronts were done in stockinette, I thought that they had the same cable pattern as the sleeves. I have no idea why I thought that, but I did. So things are going faster than I expected them to. I burned through the left front while sitting at Starbucks Friday night. I'm about halfway done with the bottom ribbing on the right front and that whole piece should be done in the next couple days. Tomorrow is going to be a super SUPER busy day, though. Class all day, then a private dance lesson in preparation for St. Patrick's Day at 5:30 (more on that later), and then a scrapbooking class from 6:30-8. That's probably the usual for some of you folks, but not for me. I am a little slower-paced. I need time for things like knitting, blogging, hanging out, napping, etc. Anyway, I will perhaps have more Mariah pictures next time, and maybe some of the Letter Have It bag and some other stuff. But I'm at school now, so no pictures today. Speaking of the Letter Have It bag, I have been making no progress at all with it. I knit a couple of rows last night but that was about it. I'm on the very last part I need to do, save the I-cord but I just can't motivate myself to work on it. I really want to use it; I kind of need a new purse. But garter is so BORING! ARGH.

 

I totally had other stuff to talk about and have since been distracted. More later tonight when I get home. MAYBE.

Blogspirit has been working rather well today, perhaps I was a little harsh on it the other day! Maybe not though, we all know it sort of sucks. I've thought about switching to something else, but laziness and lack of money have stopped me.

 

I'm working on my second version of the 'Letter Have It' bag from SnBN. (That's her in the pictures above.) I've got the back panel done and am working on the front, trying to make them identical. I always go on autopilot for easy stuff like this, and I have no idea what I did, like where my modifications/mistakes were. I am glad this thing is getting felted, because it's going to be interesting. I am fairly sure I am going to run out of yarn, which is why I decided to do the skull with intarsia instead of duplicate stitch like I had the first time. Also, I'm knitting the front, back, and handles before the middle/gusset part, because it will be a lot less of a big deal if that is a little shorter than it should be.  I really want to love this bag, but it just won't let me! Hopefully it will turn out nicer than the first did. I know I still owe pictures for that, but I don't know where my sister's camera went. You will laugh when you see them, guaranteed. The before and after size difference is crazy! I think this one is only going to get run through half a cycle. Perhaps even with half of the water warm and half hot, too. I just need to be in more control of how much it felts. Another thing that has been irritating me is how horrid the intarsia looks. I hate knitting at a huge gauge like this. I know when it felts everything will even out, but I can barely stand to look at it. Picky, crazy me. ...

 

 

And in the happy department, that is the finished back of Mariah. I am now on to the fronts, and I can't believe how quickly I got the back done! That 8 inches of stockinette was a breeze! I thought I would get bored, but it was pretty much over before I even got going. I am really pleased with how this is turning out so far. I'm so excited to get it done, I really foresee myself wearing it a lot. I'm going to let myself get conceited and say what I'm really thinking: I can't wait for all the compliments I'm going to get! I really should be casting on for one of the fronts right now, but I just figured out how to get around myspace being blocked at school. This is college for christ's sake. I figure at this age/point in our lives that if we want to get on myspace at school it shouldn't really be an issue. I guess whoever is in charge disagrees.

 

I typed all this up last night, but didn't get a chance to post it, because I ended up going out to dinner and having a lovely night [this is where the kicker comes] with a boy! Perhaps sometime soon I will be like the rest of you who talk about "the boy"! Things seem to be going rather well so far; I am optimistic. eeeeeee!