Frog Is A Four Letter Word

Today was a good day to be me. Well, fast forward from the point where I woke up all the way through the point where I get home from work. 'Cause guess what was waiting for me! A package from my Secret Pal. If you haven't heard me mention this before, MY SECRET PAL ROCKS! SP is the world's best shopper because she always sends me the cutest, most awesome things I never would have thought to send. Behold...



Where to begin. The tall tin is a groovy Phildar kit for making sparkly pink wrist warmers. YEAH. Next to that is a clear T-square that I will use like mad. The white box is more Belgian chocolate--I'm not worthy. These are called pralines (not what we think of as pralines) and I've already eaten several. :) More food products include Aioli and Garlic confit. SP's like, "If I remember, you love garlic". More like my body composition is 92% garlic. I AM garlic. Then a lot of wonderful soaps: the large one is the sweetest smelling vanilla I've ever inhaled; coconut; raspberry; and bourbon vanilla. I'm eating that last one. There is also a great lavender sachet and one of those lavender wands that SP says is a "fuseau". Thanks SO much, Secret Pal!

I can't even talk about knitting right now. Let it be known that I am almost to the front legs on Dobby's sweater and I have started The Nora as a gift for my petsitter.

Do you have a friend/relative who's so good at shopping, they should be a personal shopper?

Here is the finished Tulip bag, aka Booga Bag. Mine is a bit shorter because I ran out of yarn. I used three skeins of Lopi and I probably only had 54 rows instead of 64, but I think it looks okay. It will be a Christmas present for my aunt. I hope she is fashion forward enough to use these colors in the wintertime, because who wants to carry a felt bag in the summer?



What are you thoughts on felt?

I will be felting the Tulip Bag later today. It has been a UFO since May or June, I think, and now I'm turning it into a Christmas present. In fact I may take a look at all my UFO's and see what could be a holiday gift. Then I could clean up my project list and my gift list at the same time!

I went to The Fine Needle yesterday and got some #5 dpns to finish Dobby's sweater. I got more Bryspun needles because I think they're fun and I always like to try something different. Before I went, I made a needle inventory and was that ever an eye opener! I have three pairs of straight bamboo #10s. Why? And I have two sets of #1 dpns never opened! I think I'll definitely trade in one set of those for #7s or something. #5s and #7s are so hard to find. I smell a needle trade!

Anyway, I'll post some pre- and post-felting pictures soon. Should I put the i-cord in the same pillowcase as the bag to felt it? Or should it go in it's own bag?

Did you watch CSI last night? Did you notice the twinset that the ex-wife/mom was wearing? I love that cardigan, if you could even call it that. I desperately searched for a picture of this and although I now know too much about CSI fans and this actress, I didn't find a picture of the cardigan. Anyone TiVO it?

Today was so slow at work--I mean really?--who's working today except retailers? It gave me the chance to surf all day and I spent most of my time on craftster. I have decided I MUST make a plastic-bag bag like K did. Although mine will just likely have plastic-bag handles.

What happened to my decision to only make three or four Christmas presents? I guess the crafting gods did not hear me. Have you given yourself a Christmas crafting ultimatum?

I worked on Dobby's Big Bird sweater before I left on my trip. (So this is not new knitting, but you haven't seen it before so you're none the wiser). I did the collar and then decided to add some Boa for an outrageous look. It's hilarious and she's totally going to hate it. Oh, but it's funny.



I saved some Boa for the leg cuffs and I might even put it around the rump. Maybe her next sweater will have some faux fur on it. Maybe not.

For what projects do you think it's okay to use novelty yarns?

I'm back from vacation! I know, who goes on vacation the week before a holiday? I do 'cause it's cheap and that's when it would fit everyone's schedules. I did absolutely nothing the entire four days (if you consider eight different flights and playing with toddlers non-stop nothing).

I did some knitting but have nothing to show. I made a hat for Nephew #2 but I didn't like it when he tried it on, so I frogged it. Seriously, that's it. I'll have pictures later this week of Nieces #2 and #3 modeling their hats. Now that I'm back, I need to order some needles for a few different projects. Mostly circs and some dpns. I'm weaning myself off straight single points. They need to go away. And then decide upon the few Christmas gifts that I'm making. Maybe three or four.

Do you buy needles on a per project basis? Or stock up on various sizes at once?

Godammit, M's shrug is finally done! And only two months past her birthday, how's that for speedy service?



As I was finishing it up, I was cursing about how I'll never make anything with this gauge yarn again and what a pain this was...blahblahblah. Then I tried it on! Oh man, this thing is awesome, it is so soft and drapes beautifully and it just all around kick ass. M will love it. She is also one lucky whore because it doesn't fit me, otherwise I'd be keeping it.

Have you ever kept something you knit as a gift?

A couple weeks ago I read either on a blog or in a knitting magazine about some new weather resistant yarn. I can't remember for the life of me who was putting it out or where I read it. Now I'm interested in checking it out. Has anyone heard of this? A search for weather resistant yarn just gave me lots of wool yarn, which is fine, but this was a specific brand of yarn that was new. I think it was made specifically for outerwear. Any help would be appreciated!

I swatched, measured and cast on for Dobby's first sweater. Just for my own notes, I'll write down the specifics here.
Yarn: Patons Kingfisher in bright yellow
Pattern: Esther Bozak's Original Custom Fit Dog Sweater.
Gauge: 20s by 27r using #5 needles and yarn doubled.
Measurements: (A) 12.5" or 63 sts; (B) 18.5" or 93 sts; (C) 3.25" or 22 rows; (D)8.25"; (E) 9.75" or 66 rows; (F) 15.5" or 105 rows; (G) 20.5" or 139 rows.
Started collar with #3's and a 1x1 rib.
This way if I'm at the BF's house or something and I forget my directions, I can just look up the basic pattern online.

Do you use your blog as a notebook?

So volleyball season started last night for the bf and I needed a very small, mindless project to knit on the sidelines. I hadn't started the I-cord for my Tulip Bag, which is essentially an altered Booga Bag, so I grabbed my yarn and two dpns and off I went.

Well, did I ever feel like an idiot. After casting on twice and ripping out several rows, I finally got it right. It's so simple! But the very brief and illustration-less directions in Vogue Knitting said to purl the second row. That can't be right. Anyway, I got about two feet of strap done for that bag and now that I have the hang of it, I'm really gung ho about making more things with I-cord.

Plans for tonight include: fixing the furnace (treat!); watching a movie; and swatching for my first Pooch Along dog sweater. What are your plans?

Last night I bought Zoe Mellor's Colorful Knits for $1.40!! at the book warehouse. A lot of the same motifs that were in Animal Knits, but some other new and cute things. I know a certain little Nephew #3 who's getting a pirate sweater!

And I also whipped up this little hat out of Mexican Wave leftovers that E gave me after she made a hat for me.




I'm going to make a little i-cord for the top because it's kinda boring looking. This was going to be for Niece #2 but it's the exact same size as the fair isle beret I made for Niece #3, so we'll see who it fits.

What was your best cheap knitting purchase/creation?

Thanks for helping me decide how to use my leftovers. I think the legwarmers are a great idea, too. Look for them soon in a blog near you! I don't think my niece has cankles, but I also know she's not very tall, so they will be pretty small legwarmers. I've never even seen her, can you believe it? I'm so stoked--two weeks til I fly out there.

Also, the page for the Pooch Along is up and running, sort of. I want to verify with everyone who said they'd be interested that I can in fact add them to the page. Then I need to add comments and it should be a serviceable page. Nothing fancy, sorry.

Have you knit/want to knit legwarmers? (If you knit them in the 80's, that counts too!)