Frog Is A Four Letter Word

I put all vanity aside today when I donned my new wrist supports at the office. They: are very supportive; relieve a lot of my wrist pain; keep the area warm; and make me look like such a dork it's funny. These puppies are heavy duty and they have a removable plastic splint. It took quite a bit of getting used to typing in them. And, as shown, it's not impossible to knit in them, but it sure slows me down. Of course, constant pain slowed me down even more, so I guess it's an improvement.



Oh, you can also see my new short 'do. It takes about two minutes to do in the morning, I love it!

In knitting news, I'm on the home stretch of the Hug. I'm throwing a damn party when this piece is done, let me tell you! And I printed out the pattern for Julie Carter's super cute Plain Janes. How adorable! Little knitted slippers that look just like Mary Janes! I am SO making those. I think the Pink Striped Sweater in my Wips section is getting put on a stitch holder for the summer. It's tying up my #10 bamboos and I just can't get motivated to make a long sleeve sweater during warm weather.

So do you put any rubber traction things on the bottom of your slippers? Or just let 'em "slip"?

March has been a sucky month for finishing projects! I blame it on the wrist problem. But it hasn't slowed me down in buying yarn! I keep adding to the stash and not taking away!

Saturday M and I went to Knit Happens in Alexandria to check it out. We probably saw Froggy there and didn't even know it. It's a cute store and I'm sure they'll do well, especially in that location. I didn't get anything on my list, though. They were out of the needles I wanted, didn't have any yellow wool for felting, and didn't have the magazines I was looking for. I wanted to buy something so badly since I just got paid and drove almost three hours to check out this place. I got some Deco-Ribbon from Crystal Palace but I cannot say anything else about that, since it's going to be a gift for someone. Then I got a large skein of sock wool--Skacel's Trekking in a fun orange mix. I picked out yarn for two projects for myself, but didn't buy it because they are winter items, and either the yarn would sit in the basket until fall or I'd finish the pieces and they'd sit in the closet until winter. I'd feel like it was a waste either way.



Friday night I frogged a large portion of the Hug...AGAIN. The pattern was working up fine, but when I tried it on, it was way too huge. So I think I have it figured out now, i'm NOT giving up on this project. I have one sleeve and across the back done. I've started on the increases for the second sleeve. Hey, remember the first incarnation of the Wendy's Wild Spice, the shrug? Well, I figured out why it was so huge. When I bought the circ needle for it, I told the lady in the store I needed a #13 and she grabbed a package that said #13 on it. Well, after using my groovy needle sizer on them last week, those needles wouldn't even fit in the #17 hole! They were totally in the wrong package! So I'm not crazy or a horrible knitter! Okay, those are both up for debate, but the shrug deal wasn't my fault!

Has a project ever challenged your determination?

I spent today doing my "real" job, making slipcovers. Actually, I was just cutting them (cutting the fabric to fit the furniture) now I get to bring them home and assemble them. So I was happy because I was -not- accounting and because I -did- get paid! I actually got my accounting paycheck on time today, too, so we all know what that means!!! Another yarn shopping trip! Which also means I need to compose another shopping list so I don't lose my goddamned mind when i see all the goodies. Any must-haves you'd suggest?

M and I are going to Knit Happens on Saturday. You may recognize one of the owners as the blogger on Digital Yarn--that's how I first found out about the shop. They just opened this groovy shop a couple weeks ago and it's practically down the street from M. So we are both stoked to go check it out and drop wads of cash.

Sorry no knitty pictures to post. The only progress I've made has been on the Hug, but it doesn't look any different than the last picture. Shannon and Sue will be happy to hear that I did buy some wrist support wraps. But I don't care for them, they are simply a heavy duty Ace bandage sewn up wrist size. I think I really need the "Wrist-Ease" like Shannon said.

So tell me about your favorite (or least favorite!) LYS.

Well, my wrists have really been hurting me (from unsupported mousing and keyboarding) for the past couple days. I've been a whiny baby, just ask anyone around me. They were bothering me so much, in fact, that I have not knit for two days! I am in the second phase of withdrawal, the cold sweats. :) But today at work the gel mouse pad I ordered came in, and I went up in my attic this evening and uncovered my gel keyboard pad. That should help quite a bit, along with the stretches and exercises I've been doing. I swear if this new job interferes any more with my knitting, I'm bailing!

So last night I decided that perhaps crocheting wouldn't hurt my arms so much. It's a slightly different motion and I don't have to support as much weight. So I pulled out the mostly-finished blanket I had bought on Ebay. It took me a minute to figure out what size hook to use, then another few minutes to figure out the stitches, but I got it straight and did a couple rows. It's a bit odd to be working on someone else's work. It's like a ghost in the room. This blanket is already huge, so I know the woman put over 50 hours into the thing. What was she thinking or doing while she worked on it? Did she watch tv or rock in a chair? I think I'll use up the skein that was attached to the blanket, plus one more skein, and then I'll call this blanket finished. That leaves me with six more skeins of this -gorgeous- burnt orange acrylic. I'll probably just make another blanket for the charity.



What project have you picked up where someone else left off?

The Hug is coming along nicely. The super stretchy ribbing makes it feel "squishy" when you touch it, but that's cool with me. After frogging it the other day and writing the whole pattern out line by line, I am making fabulous progress. In fact, I'm on row #67. And how do I know that, you ask. Well, because I bought a little row counter today--see it on my right needle? I was getting tired of putting my work down at the end of every row to mark it off on my pattern. And since I'm not very good at counting rows on the work itself, especially purl rows, I decided this would keep me on track and keep the Wild Spice out of the frog pond again!



Next time I go to the LYS where I got the Wild Spice, I'm going to check out what other colors she has. There is another yarn, Patons' "Melody", which is very similar in look and feel to this. I saw some fresh summery colors of that at the Ben Franklin store, and they're calling to me. I think this will be a very Yellow (and Melon) year. Last year was very Red/Pink/Orange. Well, maybe you noticed I added a Finished Objects link to the right --->. I don't have March up yet, but c'mon, there are only two things and they're in the past week and a half of blogging.

So do you find row counters useful or do you prefer to mark off things on the pattern as you go?

Well as Shannon, M and the girl I share an office with can all attest, I goofed off all morning while looking for anyone who had Weekend Knitting in stock. I got the notion in my head that I had to make the flower washcloth in there, and therefore needed the book, even though the book costs $36 and a washcloth costs about $1. Well, two "major bookstores" in town did not have it, Amazon/Borders.com and BN.com were both out of stock, and none of my LYS's had it. M says, "See if any of the bookstores near me (M lives in a much more metro area than I do) have it since you're coming up next weekend." Nope. Then she suggests I just order it online, where I could get free shipping since it's over $25. So I whine and bitch, I want it today!! Like, on my lunch break! Not like I'd use it between my lunch break and going home, but hey, don't rationalize with me when I want something. So finally a discount book warehouse in town has TWO in stock! I yell, "Bitchin'!" and hang up, not bothering to ask if I need a second mortgage to get it. Well, you'll be happy to hear they had it for $22--my splurge for the week. I also got this groovy little line marker which I intend to use to keep track of... knitting patterns, duh!



I flipped through the whole book and must say I want to make everything in there. But I do that with all books I get, like the last one--Knitting with Beads. Anyway, some party pooper wrote a bitter review of Weekend Knitting on Borders saying she was disappointed at the useless projects. Please, knitty chicas, remember we knit for the joy of the process, too. For the relaxation, the peace and quiet, and the art. I love the "useless" things in this book, they're refreshing! I don't need another damn sweater book. I'm dying to make the checkerboard and the finger puppets in here, just because they'll be fun to make. And they are useful in the respect that they will become gifts to friends and family to show that they're worthy of the best of my time and talents. Dude, did I just write a book review or a rant?

What's your favorite knitting book?

My poor, sad Wendy's Wild Spice. It's going to have such a complex. It thinks it's supposed to get frogged instead of becoming a finished piece. I had about thirty rows of The Hug done, when I realized I started reading the pattern wrong back on row THREE! So I frogged it all, and wrote out each row of the pattern since it only had the kind of instructions like "dec every 3rd row until you have this many stitches". That never works for me. Give me row by row instructions or measurements in inches. I need "verifiable data", to quote Russell Crowe in A Beautiful Mind.

But good news! We rearranged my entire desk this morning, so no more wrist pain. I'm still going to get a half glove like Shannon suggested. I'm off to Michael's to look for Weekend Knitting and some other paraphenalia. I'll let you know how it goes!

Have you ever thought a yarn or project of yours was cursed?

Well, I finished a project this evening, the purple heart dishcloth. Sure, it's nice to finish something, but even cooler is getting to start a new project!! Of course I could be orderly and continue working on the other three things I have on needles now (technically four since I was making green blanket squares to celebrate St. Patrick's Day). But since when is orderly fun? So the last few rows of the dishcloth I was daydreaming about that cute yellow ribbon yarn I picked out for my niece.

But on the last few rows I was also thinking about the nagging pain in my wrist! Due to 1.)my recent employedness (new word!) where I have to use a mouse, 2.)the fact that I've worked on a laptop for the past two years, and 3.)my desk setup at work being most uncomfortable I've been having a lot of pain in my right wrist. I do not care about mousing, but it better not affect my knitting!! So finishing up the dishcloth, I decided to try holding and wrapping the yarn with my left hand, while only inserting and bringing the needle through with my right hand. Is that Continental? Anyway, that's what I did. It made my wrist feel much better, though I noticed my tension was super tiiiight. I'm sure that would improve with practice. So I'll try that some more tomorrow at lunch and see how it feels.



There's the dishcloth. It's only 2/3rds the intended length because I'm a lazy bum. I think it would be cute to make a couple more in different patterns and colors for my niece's easter basket. Hey, she's only four months old, she doesn't know she's supposed to get candy not knitty.

What have you tried to ease wrist or hand discomfort?

It ocurred to me while I worked on the purple heart dishcloth on my lunch break today that I really should have cast on two of these and worked them at the same time. NOW this idea comes to me. I wanted to make two anyway, out of two different colors. And since the row instructions are different every single time, it would have gone a little faster with two of the same row back to back. Ah well. I have decided that this cloth will have one more row of hearts and then be done. I have some other cloths I want to make and this guy is monopolizing my time.



And I thought I'd throw in a picture of some of the squares we made at the charity knitting circle last week. I have a contest going for whomever makes the most squares, one prize for knit and one prize for crochet. Sadly, I'm not eligible. But next month's prize goes to whoever brings the most friends. Again, not eligible. But I do get to update the website! I need to do that tonight and send out an email about the next meeting.



What have you knitted two at a time?

I didn't get any knitting done today, any taking away from the stash. But there was some adding to, I received more donations of yarns to Handknit Neighborhood from my SIL (the knitty one, not the one with all the kids). There's one slipper, the beginnings of a blanket and yarn to go with both of them.



I did sew all morning, though. Some work related stuff, and some "personal" sewing. I just found out last friday that my new niece's shower is this friday, which means I would have to ship out her gift tomorrow for it to arrive in time. I had this cute aqua and white polarfleece with which I wanted to make something for her. So I made a little blanket with satin binding (I should have skipped the satin binding and just serged the edge) and a funky hat that literally took five minutes to cut out and sew.



I'm still going to knit/crochet her a REAL blanket, but three days was just not enough notice! So I made the blanket and hat and then picked out a little creeper outfit, a bib and some hair accessories (this kid has more hair than me!) in the same aqua color. I just finished wrapping it, now I need to find a shipping box and I'll be all set. Oh by the way, we can all stop holding our breath now--my mom liked her felt hat. She tries it on with her blue coat and then says, "Well, this is the last winter for this coat, so next year I'll need a new felt hat to go with whatever coat I get." Is that, like, pre-ordering?

What's the shortest time frame you've had to knit some gift?

I was so zen in the yarn store today. I had cleared all thoughts from my head and was not distracted by fuzzy and sparkly yarns. I was a laser, intently focused and single-minded of purpose. I went in with my list. I came out with things on list, period. Now, I did not get ALL things on my list because they did not have them.



I got a 40" circ. size #2 to try the Magic Loop sock method. I also got a set of #1 dpns. I have a set of #3 dpns that I've been using as cable needles. But those three sizes should allow me some flexibility in choosing my first socks to make. I also bought two balls of Regia in color #5217 (what creative nomenclature) which is yellow, hot pink and dark pink. I may use this for my first pair of socks or I have a ton of Sockotta in the green/blue/yellow but it needs to be frogged first.

I also got some Lopi for felting. These colors will most likely be a bag. And I just had the grooviest idea ever for next winter. I'm going to make felt car seat covers. Not to cover the entire seat like a slipcover, but just flat pieces to cover where you sit, the back and the headrest. Yeah, that should only require $900 worth of wool.

So what's your yarn shopping style?

Well, the excruciatingly boring baby blankie is back on the books! It's too late to give it to my cousin's baby, so it's becoming an easter present for Nephew #3. I worked on it late last night after I did half a repeat on the dishcloth. I moved the blanket to circular needles last week, so it's easier on my wrists and I can see progress more clearly. Can you see the stockinette/reverse stockinette pattern going on here?



I will definitely need to block this blanket. Also, I need to get two more skeins of the Encore Colorspun, and the only place I've found it is a particular LYS that we're going to today. How convenient! I like this yarn, I guess I'm just a sucker for anything self striping. It's magic! They have other colorways that I may try as blankets for the charity since this is a nice washable yarn.

I've been working on The Hug during my lunch breaks. Talk about loving a yarn! I think I want to marry Wendy, whoever that is. No obvious progress, but it's a relaxing, brainless project--perfect for a break in the middle of the day. And here's a shot of the dishcloth with a full repeat complete. Am I lightning fast or what? har har.



What's your favorite "zone out, chill out, space out" knitting project?

Well I felted my mom's hat last night. It only took one cycle of hot wash to get to the correct size! I think it looks fine. We shall find out on Sunday if it earns her approval. If not, she will request that I make another one with the approved change orders. (Okay, I must stop speaking accounting-ese).



If I make this hat again, I will take a couple rows off the brim. It's too large and floppy for my taste. And I also would not do the brim in garter stitch as the pattern says, because it's very obvious even after felting. You can probably see the rows in the above picture. Remember my m.o. is to alter patterns!

I worked on the dishcloth last night while the hat was in the washer. And I plan on working on it tonight, so tomorrow it should be picture-worthy. E and I are going to Sea Needles tomorrow, and I'm getting butterflies in my tummy! Can't wait!!

What's your favorite hat style to make? To wear?

Tell me this is not Mushmouth from Fat Albert!!



This is my mom's hat, knitted but not yet felted. I finished it last night while we watched A Beautiful Mind. When I put it on I just want to start talking like, "Hey-ba, this-ba is-ba my-ba new-ba hat-ba". Both R and M said I just needed to cut eyeholes in it.

So while its in the washer, I'll pick up the purple heart dishcloth again, which is actually -less- complete than the last picture. So no point in showing you that. Then I really need to work on my shopping list for this weekend. E gave me a gift certificate to Sea Needles for my birthday. I'm going this weekend and I want to have a plan so I can exercise restraint. I think I will concentrate on needles and clearance yarn. Shannon has been giving me awesome sock advice, so I'm going to purchase some sock needles, perhaps including some circs.

Okay, I'm off to felt! If you had $500 dollars to spend on knitting/crocheting stuff, what would you get?

This is one huge hat!! I'm having waking nightmares of my mom trying to wear this hat on the plane and they tell her she'll have to check it as luggage. I'm sure it will be fine once I felt it, but don't you get that feeling sometimes like, "There is NO way this will shrink that much". Anywho, I got enough decreases done to switch to the dpns. I probably could have continued with the circ for a while, but I was anxious to use these new needles. I do not like doing the M1's by picking up the bar in between. It leaves a hole, a few of which you can see in the pictures. I prefer knitting in the front then the back of a stitch.



Anyway, R is here and we're going to watch Once Upon A Time in Mexico again. Yes, I will be knitting, but nothing complex. Don't want to repeat the dishcloth experience.

Have you ever had a felted piece shrink too much or not enough?

Saturday afternoon I realized it was a bad idea to watch a movie where I would drool over Johnny Depp and knit something with a pattern at the same time. My friend M came down to help celebrate my birthday and one of her gifts to me was Once Upon A Time In Mexico. So we watched that and I worked on my purple heart dishcloth. When the movie was over, I looked at my dishcloth and saw it had gone awry. Then I looked at the pattern I printed off the website and realized it went from row 13 to row 20! It was correct on the website, it must have been my printer that omitted the information. So I frogged to row 13 and began again, but I'm still having problems with the pattern coming out wrong. Pfff.

My mom's felt hat is progressing nicely, though. I really enjoy working with the Lamb's Pride. So much softer than Lopi!

Oh yes! And the charity knitting circle was on Saturday! I was prepared for but not anticipating a crowd. It turned out to be myself, E and M. But we got a lot accomplished, had a good time knitting and yapping, and M learned a new (crochet) stitch. The next circle is going to be in the evening on a weekday, so maybe we'll have a better turnout. Also, the prize at the next circle goes to whomever brings the most friends, so that should encourage people to show up. Here is my poster I made for this month's project and prizes.



Have you ever won any knitting goodies in a contest?

Well it's 1:20 in the morning, I've been out celebrating my birthday. But I wanted to share with you the cool delivery I got today. This is my awesome $10.50 deal on Ebay. A huge half-finished blanket with 7 more skeins to finish it, 4 skeins of another color, 1 skein of a third color, and a pound of ivory. This is all acrylic, and it's all going to the charity stash.



I'll post tomorrow about how the charity circle went and the other knitting I've been doing.

So sleepy.

Do you remember my pink shrug? Well, it is now becoming the pink Hug from MagKnits. Since I took out a few letters of the name, does that mean I won't have the same issues I had with the shrug? Oh yes, I've been saying "issues" a lot this week. Because in accounting, they don't like to hear "problems", so they're "issues" or "items". Well, for those of you just joining us, the pink yarn is Wendy's Wild Spice, a most excellent super chunky wool blend.

One thing I'd like to mini-rant about...needle sizing!! This pattern calls for a 10.5 US needle. Fortunately, she also specified 7mm. But what if she hadn't? I looked up 10.5 US in my Vogue Knitting Book (*genuflect*) and it says 6.5mm, 7mm and 7.5mm are ALL 10.5 US. WTF?



And I don't know about you, but I was sick of seeing my knitting on the red background of my kitchen countertop or my wood coffee table. So I took this picture out in my workroom on my sewing table. I actually needed to get out there and work on my freelance project, since I've only messed with it half an hour this week.

Ugh, this full time job is really cutting into my schedule. I'm kind of hoping that things don't work out there, so I can go back my freelance lifestyle. Go back to no regular paycheck, no health insurance, and working until 4 AM. Call me crazy! I've been on this accounting gig for two weeks, and I really miss working on my own schedule and being able to run errands any time I felt like it. I hope they say the permanent position won't pay squat, that way I can quit right now and cut my losses. But if they're going to pay me a competitive rate, I'll be forced to be logical!! I'll have to stay. Pout.

I think I'll work on the dishcloth during the special CSI reruns tonight. See? I told you that's the only show I watch! I clicked on all the other pages that are doing the dishcloth along and no one else (except Shannon) has blogged about their dishcloth. I know you're out there! I wanna see your dishcloths!!

So tell me I'm not the only one who has bought or picked up needles to use and mistook the mm size for the US size.

Well I started on my dishcloth for the Dishcloth Knit Along. I'm using some purple Sugar Babies I already had. I found the cute pattern at Knitting on the Net--the pattern's by Tricia Walter. I think it will be a gift to my new niece, since that's my SIL's favorite color for her girls. Not that my niece will be washing dishes at four months old, I mean it will be a washcloth. :) Here's what I've got done this evening.



And apparently, this heart pattern is very popular with "knitters in the know", hee hee. Because right before I posted this, I read Shannon's blog and she's doing a heart cloth for the same knit along! Honestly, while dinner was cooking tonight, I just hopped online to find something because I had to start it tonight. I know she's getting creeped out, thinking I'm copying her. HAHA! Well, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. She's inspired me to start knitting socks, too. And if I can make some half as well or as fast as her, then I'll be happy.

So what knitter do you emulate?

Well, I'm including a picture of my yarn "area" not to prove that it exists, but to make you (hopefully) feel better. If your stash is tidy and well-edited, then you are ahead of the curve. If your stash resembles mine (or worse) then take comfort that you are not alone, you are not irregular. Granted, most of this is charity yarn, but even if i moved that out of the way, my own stuff is clawing its way out of the baskets so you can barely see the container for the contents!



I also included that because I have no knitting news so far today. C'mon! I just got home from work! I do plan to knit a bit this evening before CSI:Miami. I joined the Dishcloth Knit Along and I want to start on something cute this evening. I have found the perfect excuse to go buy Weekend Knitting. They have a flower dishcloth pattern in there! I wanted the book anyway, because she recommends knitting-friendly movies. In a perfect world, though, I could knit in the dark while watching movies.

So what's your favorite knitting multitask? Knit/phone, knit/tv, knit/argue with significant other?