Next?

I kind of want to make this. Isn't it kind of awesome?

Taking pictures of yarn in my yard

or: what I would do for free yarn.

Astute knitters will recall that Knitty's Calendar Contest competition is again upon us. The deadline was Friday the 14th and this year I managed to enter (unlike last year.) Like last year, though, I forgot until the last second and had chosen 3 pictures I'd used elsewhere. The fella disliked my entries and offered to help. In the end, only one of his made the cut. Can you guess which one was his?

My next most favorite WIP

As you may or may not know, I get really excited about new projects. Studying a pattern, picking the yarn, BUYING the yarn, (watching the yarn gather dust in my closet). Nonetheless, I have been stuck on the Gigi since it came out last summer.

But finally, I'm through with gifts for awhile and want to focus on moi again with my knitting. So now I just have to choose on a color! I briefly toyed with the idea of knitting it bare and dip dyeing it after it's finished, kind of like this one from Gap, only not in neon. However, I fear two things. 1. not getting a nice gradation in the dyeing, although the banding of the sweater would provide a nice border. 2. getting the whole think knit and seamed and beautiful, and then mucking it up in some unforeseen way at the last second.Below are the current front runners, all KnitPicks Stroll Kettle-Dyed Sock Yarn. Since it's sock yarn (and KnitPicks) it is relatively inexpensive. I think the kettle-dying makes it look more interesting and more expensive. It looks the way I wish my hand-dyed would look.
BordeauxWineGrasshopper
Gold

Assuming it will be done for fall... do one of these colors say "fall"? Unsure.

Sick day = sock day!

Tomorrow I am taking a sick day. (Note to astute readers: I don't really get sick days, but my boss said it was okay to stay home, so I consider that to be roughly the same thing). I have appointments that will take up the morning and will be home from lunchtime on. I have taken this blissful opportunity to learn how to knit socks - painfully overdue!

I have chosen to learn toe-up (as opposed to cuff-down), on double pointed needles. I will save tackling (and explaining) two circulars for now. Pattern du jour from Knitty. I'm pretty sure I can handle this, as my oeuvre of techniques covers more than the basics. Pretty soon, I will be able to pay more and spend more time to acquire a pair of socks! Hooray!

Deadlines.....

So, deadlines are fast approaching. In order of importance:
1. Credit card payment, deadline: tomorrow.
2. Abstract for CMIB retreat, deadline: Monday.
3. Handmade Arcade entry, deadline: 17th
4. Knitty calendar contest, deadline: um, soonish.

To elaborate on issue number 4, the knitty calendar submission deadline is soon and I forgot to get help from people who know how to take pictures... I was left to run around my yard yesterday with an unfinished, unblocked scarf and a camera. Below are the results.

Not as miserable as I expected, but still not a likely top twelve finisher.

Of course, I'd kick myself for not entering, given the prizes.

Oh, and I'm learning how to crochet tonight.

The cardigan is almost realized.

I am in the middle of stitching my first cardigan and it is dull and tedious… I'm starting to really regret not buying this yarn in two colors to do the fun stripes (though in fairness, the yarn was about to go to the buy-it-to-have-it stash land before I spared it from a life of boredom in a bin in the closet).

I was always daunted by the task of creating an out and out sweater until I realized I’ve completed projects that are both much larger and more complicated.
So glad I took the plunge.

Now on to socks and fair isle, the final frontiers.

Get Your Fish Fry On!!

That's right, it's Friday and that means I have full license to daydream for most of the afternoon.

Knitty is running a calendar contest, and I am obsessed with entering. You need a creative (they really stress creative) display of a Knitty-patterened project. And if you win, you get a) bragging rights, b) killer swag. I looked at some past winners and was mildly disappointed. Socks in the foreground with a scenic background is not creative. Wearing a sweater in the woods while you knit is not creative. There's a pattern for a lampshade and I want to take a picture of me with it on my head. *That* is creativity, bitches. Of course, I first need to knit it.

I mean, I make pretty things, right? That's what my friends tell me, at least. So the rest of the day will be daydreaming about how I can stage my stuff to, well, basically look better than everybody else's.

Sciencing again

After a long (and undeserved) vacation, I have to return to work and class. The class is biostatistics, the science is S. pneumoniae, and I am sleepy. So while I should be paying attention to the lecturer right now, I am instead thinking of why a) I am not in bed, and b) I am not knitting this, my current project.
The pattern was easy to memorize and I have always particularly enjoyed lace.
But for now, statistics. (Although, I would argue that knitting is totally mathy.)

Me = Magnetic

Desktop = mad at me/no internet

Laptop = squeaking and dim

*I was asked if I am magnetic, having rendered two computers functionless...

Weather = hot

Science = on hold until Monday

Knitting = only thing on the agenda (this or a scarf called "the swiss cheese scarf")

Summer issue of Knitty = worth staying at school another hour to pour over

Nap = next order of business

Grocery bags are genius

I just finished the grocery shopping for a four day getaway with the guy I knit for. Despite a cart full of goodies, no plastic bags used. I'm not a super-hippie tree-hugger, but for a dollar's worth of cotton yarn and a few hours of tv watching/knitting, it's kind of nice to be rid of a few plastic bags.



I have two types, those knit with one strand of yarn and those with two. The two strander is more durable and can hold jars and jugs and such. I followed the everlasting bagstopper pattern from knitty, with a few modifications. No drawstring, knit handles reinforced with canvas.

The one strand bags are super stretchy (and I often regret putting such long handles on them) and are similar to this string bag, but not quite the same. I also really like the Saturday Market Bag by Jodie Danenberg and might try it also (free on ravelry). This one from the now deceased MagKnits looks really neat, too. I like the one handle look (the pattern is up on ravelry for free.)



Yay for grocery bags. Bonus if you love mindless knitting by the tv.

The difference a day can make

So Clapotis and I are back on speaking terms. I got some advice from the nice folks on ravelry and things seem to be fine. This is very good news as I was not looking to start over or choose another pattern. As expected, all other patterns are on hold because I really can't put the silk/cash yarn down. It's from Colourmart, and I'm in love. Too bad it's a gift.

Second order of business, my cloning is on hold until I can get my restriction digest to work. To continue a cooking theme, I want to make cookies and can't crack the eggs open to save my life. It should be really easy and I'm stumped. I'm hoping like with Clapotis, my stumped-ness will alleviate itself tomorrow...

Mad at Clapotis

I was super excited to start Clapotis, but now I'm a little bummed out. I dropped the first ladder and it's really loose looking. I'm thinking of trying it with smaller needles, but if that doesn't work, I'm stumped. I'm told that the yarn should be okay for the project so......?