It's been awhile...

I’ve been knitting. Sort of. There’s this whole vicious cycle thing going. The boys are out of school so the house is a disaster. But it’s impossible to clean because the boys are out of school. But I feel guilty for not cleaning. So I don’t think I should knit. But even if I felt like it, the boys are out of school, so I can’t really just sit down. Because then the house would hit that mess level where you can’t find any unders.

For your amusement… Broken lantern moon needles. The boogers. So cozy is stalled.

The puffy lump aka Icky the Icarus. I’ve only done just two repeats of the five needed for the straight section. If you look above, you can see the true colors of the cozy.

But I’ve been really distracted by this…. This has my first Intarsia attempt with the star. The bad news is the instructions suck a$$ and so I’m kind of not sure whether or not I could continue.

So these are my frustrating adventures in knitting. How’s things in your little corner of the world?

The olympic equivalent of...

I guess you could say I'm *this* close to being disqualified. Six days have been marked off of the Olympic Knitting Calendar. And I've only knit about 25% of my Sitcom Chic. I didn't take another picture, because quite honestly folks, there's nothing to see. Why didn't anyone tell me that knitting Sitcom Chic would be mind-numbingly boring??? I mean the sweater is a cutie. That's for sure. But the knitting itself is snooze-a-rama as only miles of stockinette could be. I can't even bring myself to think about the sleeves.

To make matters worse, the TV is conspiring against me. I thought that if there was interesting stuff on, I could knit through the boredom. But no.... Gilmore Girls was inspid this week *yawn* and then Supernatural and Lost did a double whammy on me. They had lots of grossness. (Gross is relative I know. It was gross to me.) So I had to close my eyes a lot. And while I can knit without looking, for some reason closing my eyes totally throws me off. Why? Who knows.

But I have done some very good knitterly things. Oh yes. The fifth FO of 2006, first in all it's glory blocking...


And then hanging out on the bed. Because yes I wore it today, but no, I am not showing you the oh so popular shawl shot. You know the one. Where they hold it up behind them with arms spread wide and someone takes a picture of their ass. You do not wanna see a picture of my ass. We are in the process of reducing said ass and we do not really need to see it to know that it is big.


The true color is somewhere in between the blocking "natural light" shot and the boudoir (flash) shot.

Project: Leaf Lace Shawl by Evelyn Clark (Fibertrends)
Yarn: Zephyr Jaegerspun, two 2 oz. cakes, 630 yards each, held doubled
Needles: Size 7 Crystal Palace circs, 32 or 35 inches
Notes: The zephyr is to die for. Except for the fricking, fracking knots. I literally screamed out loud (once in the yarn store) when I found the last two. It really pissed me off that there were so many (at least 7) knots in the one cake. The CP needles though worked like a charm. Much better than the addis I've been attempting to use for lace. I did 12 repeats of rows 31-40. When all was said and done I only had 6g (out of about 112g) of the yarn leftover.

Please don't tell the knitting police about my Olympic failure so far. And Beth, to make matters worse, I'm giving serious though to finally finishing Rogue by adding the zipper and attaching the sleeves. I'm hopeless.

Regarding Unsupervised Husbands...

If you wonder what will happen if you leave your husband alone at home to participate in the Knitting Olympics...

Friday night I hit the LYS to cast on for my sitcom chic. It was good. When I got home the man was doing laundry. Seems like a considerate thing, no?

No.


Just so you know, Big J is not mad because he has a brand new pair of fuzzy feet, that used to be his mama's before Big Daddy got ahold of them. No. He's mad because apparently I made him sit in a girl pose to take the picture.

On Saturday the man took the boys out to buy Valentine's presents -- supposedly for me. I went jeans shopping (yay for clearance) and then back to the LYS to work on my olympic project. I get a call. He's looking at aquariums and he starts rattling off sizes and prices. And I'm like, honey, it's your bonus, buy whatever you want.


Overnight it got all ph happy. And today we will pick up some of the hardier fish I guess.

You know the moral of the story.

If I didn't know better...

I'd say he loves them. Them being the fourth true FO of 2006. As in I had to weave in ends and wash them. He actually helped me smooth them out.


Project: Socks
Yarn: Knitpicks Parade in Forest, maybe a skein and a quarter
Needles: Size 2 addis

And then we trained. Trained hard I tell you. There was swatching, there was sweating, there was measuring. Ok, so there wasn't any sweating. It's not really hot here today.


Bubblegum Pink. I tell you what. I'm gonna nickname this sweater Hubba Bubba.

I have made a decision.

Yes I have. And to support my decision, I have also made a button.



It's a simple button. But it's my button. Plus I have that exact shade of cotton ease to do my sweater in. So next we swatch.

Last Minute Louie....

Aka a later gator. Procrastinator extraordinaire. That would be me. I *still* have not selected a project for the Knitting Olympics. I'm feeling a bit guilty though because I still haven't knitted man socks. Or boy #1 socks. Boy #2 has socks. But that's it. So it may just be that I try to finish boy #1 socks, and then do the man socks as my KO project. I got the book Sensational Socks and the man loves all the cable patterns. Trouble is, I don't know if the yarn I have is enough for cabled man socks. I might run out. Which would be sucktastic and awful.

The real challenge this morning is to get off my duff, take a shower and get the day going. The more time I spend lollygagging on the internet, the less time I have to knit.

A severe case of finaphobia

I'm working on repeat 11 of my leaf lace shawl. The plan is 12 repeats and then edging. It's getting closer. The taste of victory. So would you like to know what I did yesterday? Ahhh yes.

I went to the "other" LYS. I petted a bunch of dk weight yarns. I bought a couple of balls of perle 8 cotton. I want to make another sort of cuff or bracelet with beads. They had lovely silver perle 8. Yummy!

Then I went to the LYS. The one I prefer. I petted more dk yarns. The owner was kind enough to let me see the pattern on her computer so that I could decide which one was best. I ended buying a ball of cascade indulgence in a lovely shade of muted wine. And some 16" size 5 circs. And I came home and strung beads and cast on.

WHAT THE HECK IS WRONG WITH ME?

Why would I cast on for a new project, with money I really shouldn't have spent, and needles I had to buy, instead of working on any of the million UFO's I have floating around in my house? Besides, this is freaking Florida. I don't need a hat. Like ever.

I'm attributing it to finaphobia. The fear of finishing things. Yes, oh yes, I made that word up. I felt it was justified.

fe, fi, FO, fum!

I *still* haven't figured out what to do for the Knitting Olympics. Although a recent look at my budget has helped me decide that it will be from stash. But as my training for the Olympics, I am trying to tie up all the loose ends per se. I'm shooting for a record number of FO's. (Ok, so record is a bit vague and subjective). I'm shooting for lots of FO's.

So we present, the third FO of the year... the "fashion scarf". Modeled by our favorite fashion model, PJ, aka my nephew, the son of the recipient. This is for my sister. And I *know* she won't let me snap a pic of her.


My sister picked out this yarn up in Fernandina Beach back in October when my mom was visiting.

Project: Fashion scarf aka cast on 12 stitches and knit every row til it's done.
Yarn: Online Linie 67 - label lost. The colorway is a mix of turquoise, blue, and navy.
Needles: Size 15 crystal palace circulars.

This yarn is actually very nice. I'm not a fan of novelty stuff personally, but it's very soft, and it has a pretty mixture of matte/shiny/furry. Did I mention it was soft? ;)

Cuff 'em & stuff 'em

I don't like it. It reminds me of those cuffs people wore in the 70's while exercising (or not exercising). The striped ones. Maybe it's the yarn and beads I chose. They go nicely. The heathered shadow and the softly variegated beads. Maybe it looks like gym socks and not jewelry because the beads are matte? I don't know. But it's done. The second FO of 2006.

Pattern: MaryElla from Knitty
Yarn: Knitpicks Shadow in Oregon Coast
Beads: Sead beeds from Art on Park
Needles: Size 0000 addis

On a clear day you can see forever...

Or at least to the end of your legs. Presenting the first FO of 2006.... Fuzzy Feet!


A nicer shot of them outside on the balcony relaxing.


Pattern: Fuzzy Feet from Knitty
Yarn: Cascade 220 leftovers - the heel & toe in quattro. Less than one skein total.
Needles: Size 10.5 16" circs and size 10.5 dpns (or something like it)
Verdict: Quick, easy, and delightful!

I was reading Franklin's blog and he has the nicest picture of wintery Chicago. Here we don't do so much with the winter. Although we did have to wear jackets today, I don't think it broke 65. So I present...

The view from here...

February is the new January

I really hate it when they do that. "Brown is the new black". No it's not. It's brown. And yes, brown has become more of a wardrobe staple than it was in the past. But go try telling all the goth kids to start wearing brown. Maybe a nice tweedy chocolate? Yeah, right.

Speaking of chocolate, my dieting resolutions have already sputtered out. Well, not so much sputtered. More like I did a spectacular cliff dive into a lake of chocolate ala Willy Wonka.

And I was thinking about knitting vs. dieting. How they are similiar. The effort to result ratio that is. Losing a bunch of weight is like knitting a cabled sweater, or a beautiful lace shawl. Lots of hardwork, but the end result is so very much worth it. And you can strut around with pride in your new shawl (or your new butt) and just bask in the compliments.

And then there's quick and dirty dieting. A couple of days of frenzied effort to drop a few pounds of water weight. So you can wear your rings again and your face won't look quite so puffy in your new work ID card. Kind of like fuzzy feet. Or a washcloth. A short spurt of crazy knitting yields you something little and cute.


Of course maybe it's like one of those crazy big knit ponchos. Yarn the width of a garden hose, size 75 needles. And you're all proud of yourself until you wear it out. And realize that you look like a schmuck. Just like the water weight comes screaming back as soon as you eat a single lay's potato chip. And who can eat just one?

There are differences though. Dieting is about deprivation. Knitting is about burying yourself in piles of gorgeous yarn. And then there's the whole UFO issue.

UFO. UnFinished Object. Knitters are famous for their UFO's. Like my Rogue. I pick it up, I put it down. I've been working on it off and on since August. But everytime I pick it up, it is just where I left it. No stitches have unravelled. Just as much progress as I expected. No backsliding. It's a beautiful thing.

You can't leave dieting in UFO status though. You can't *stop* dieting and then pick up back where you left off. Nope. If you stop and ignore it for awhile your butt will get bigger. And don't even try on those rings. Who are you kidding?

Happy New Year folks. Come February 1st I'll be toasting you with rice cakes and um, rice cakes. At least I can still gorge myself on yarn.

Welcome to the block party!

"Of doom" is such a useful phrase. The jaywalkers of doom. The sleeves of doom. The dirty toilet of doom.

Maybe you're not familiar with the dirty toilet of doom. Here's how you learn firsthand. Have two boys 13 months apart. Then when they are potty-trained they will start creating the toilet of doom. No matter whatcha do, perfect aim will never be achieved. Cheerio targets? Nope. Candy incentives? Nope. The aim will always be bad.

And then you, the mom, will have to don your lady playtex yellow gloves and clean up all the misses. Do you ever wonder why playtex makes yellow gloves and feminine hygiene products? I mean honestly, how are the two connected?

And just fyi, my 37 year old husband recreates the toilet of doom in our bathroom. So you don't have to pop out the kids. Just move in with a man.

Pardon the wide angle picture... But I had to show proof that there were two of them!



I need to do some smoothing and pinning while they are still wet. Yes, I realize it's very late at night. But I have Carolan's and no-bake cookies and diet pepsi. So hang around for awhile, won't ya?

I am very, very excited that I finally finished the sleeves of doom. Next comes the zipper of doom. Do you hear the ominous background music? Well if you do, you've had more Carolan's than I have.

I'll be blaming the boy scouts.

For the record, I don't belive in karma. I believe in God. But it does seem to me that life has a way of giving you ups and downs.

Up the first. My husband's ex-wife called tonight. She and her father will be in town in a week or so and want to meet me and the boys. Um, ok. Not exactly an up. The up is that my husband still has a financial obligation to her, and she's wiping it clean. So yay and woohoo!

Up the second. I think I'm finally in the clear jaywalker wise. I've turned the heel and I'm in decrease junction. I've cropped the below picture to spare you the sight of my pedicure. Usually my toys are pretty darn well pretty. It is Florida, and flip flops (or toe shoes as my mama calls them) are de rigeur. But it's actually been chilly here. (Please let's ignore the fact that I still haven't finished my Rogue).


So where's the downside? Well there's some serious job turmoil for the man, and since he's the only breadwinner my nerves are all just shot to hell. And then there's this...


They're cute aren't they? I know. My boys are cutie patooties. (If you are a Nascar fan, please stop reading now. I'm sorry.)

Do you notice the background? That's at Daytona USA. I spent last Saturday with cars, and more cars, and a lot of people who made me kind of nervous. People who only wore clothing with big numbers emblazoned on them. And then there was the movie. Imax technology is wonderful. And loud. And Nascar on Imax. Really fricking loud. I'm just not a Nascar fan. Although I'm sort of scared that the boys might become fans. It was a boy scouts outing. So when my children are wearing scary jackets, t-shirts, hats, sunglasses, underwear, and tattoos sporting the number of their favorite racer, I'll be blaming the boy scouts.

Return of the Jaywalker!

Sounds kind of ominous, doesn't it?



Please ignore the misshappen rewound skein of sock garden. That's the best I could do until my beloved buys me a ballwinder. But I think they are actually working.

Things I'm doing differently... Since it was clear that the 76 stitch version would not fit over my heel on size 1 addis, I had a choice. Go up in needle size or go up in stitch count. I decided to do the 84 stitch version. But I hated the way the ribbing flared everytime I did them. So I did the ribbing on size 0 addis. I think I will also use the size 0 addis to tighten up the sole area.

Interesting note. Instead of pooling, the 84 stitch version in hydrangea is striping now. Looks pretty though.

Frickin' frackin'....

Insert your own pseudo expletives as desired. Why?

A rogue sleeve (for my size) is 118 rows. At least. Once I get past the increases I might have to add a few rows for my gorilla arms.

I'm knitting both sleeves at once. I have 45 rows to go. It takes me 5-6 minutes to work a row.

Do the math.

It's gonna take me another four-five hours just to knit the sleeves. Let alone the blocking and the seaming. I just don't see that happening today. At all.

Bummer.

Feeling Roguish...

The body is blocking. Supposedly blocking A. takes forever, and B. will help with the sleeve seaming. So....


I'm not sure what to do with the hood. Most pics I've seen of other Rogues blocking show it kind of spread out. I'm gonna fuss with it in a minute.

The sleeves are about 60% done. I'm hoping to finish them tonight or early tomorrow and attach them sometime on Friday. See? I picked a project to finish. It's supposed to be in the 50's on Saturday (chilly!) and we're going down to Daytona for a "go-see-it". We'll be outside a good deal of the time at the track and won't I look stylish?

Methinks...

Actually I probably *shouldn't* think. But that's a whole 'nother blog.

I would really like to be a finisher. As opposed to a person who starts 75 projects but never finishes anything. This is giving me gas today. Today I had a whole lot of knitting time available to me. But instead of knitting I played on the computer, printed out new patterns to try, and even cast on for something else. Something is definitely wrong with me.

So I'm gonna be a finisher. Stay tuned for what I'm gonna finish. I haven't decided yet.

Made in the shade?

Ok. I am seriously confused. The best pics I can get of my knitting and/or yarn are in the shade?



MaryElla from Knitty, in Knitpicks Shadow laceweight, color Oregon Coast. The heathered effect has some nice purples and greens in it. The beads are from Art on Park, a local gallery. They have a subtle variation - purple to periwinkle to blue to green. It's extremely slow knitting on the 0000 needles aka the pokey needles of death. (Just ask my poor thigh about that...)



And this is some antique rose colored cotton along with black for my Via Diagonale. It's thicker than the recommended yarn, so I'm gonna have to do some gauge swatches and some math on that bugger. But it should be pretty.

And eventually I will get this picture crap down.

A (wo)man with a plan.

Today, I have a plan. Would you like to see?

1. Shower - This will include the after tasks of applying makeup and blowing my hair out.

2. Sorting laundry - Gonna take it slow and just get done whatever today.

3. Knit - I can't decide if it will be my leaf lace shawl or my rogue. One or the other.

4. Library - I still have not been to the new library downtown. So today we go.

5. Carolans - The cheaper version of Bailey's. But just as tasty in my oh so humble opinion. Tonight there will be Carolans, and watching TV, and knitting, and general relaxation.

I did make it over to the sit and knit at the last minute last night (boy scouts was cancelled) but I didn't make any progress on my shawl. But it was fun nonetheless.

Leafy and lacy....

Yesterday the man's Christmas presents finally arrived. After quite a run around, I'll tell you. But one of his presents was a video game. So of course he was lost to me last night. So I settled in with my zephyr and some BBC America. And I swatched with the zephyr on different needles and with one and two strands until I found the fabric I wanted.



Double stranded zephry jaegerspun on size 7 crystal palace bamboo circulars. Quite perfect and quite easy to knit. I'm on my 2nd repeat of the ten rows, and I'm looking at doing 10-12 repeats. It's coming together so pretty. I think I might have this baby knit up in no time. Finally, something rewarding.