Frog Is A Four Letter Word

Fellow knitters, the snowdrop shawl has passed beyond that giant hurdle, the halfway mark! It is now (before I even sit down for the evening to knit) at 53.54% complete! I talked to my mom last night and she said her surgery is "in a couple weeks", but they haven't scheduled it yet. I really need to focus my hands on this project if I want to give it to her when she comes out of the hospital.

In a few rows I will begin knitting the center of the shawl in solid stockinette, per the pattern. If I were to make this pattern again, I would definitely add beads to the edges and here, in the solid center. Remind me of that, friends, the next time I make this, okay? Also, remind me to spend the freakin' money for some bamboo needles. These Inox are the most slippery items I could have dreamt up.

What type of needle do you use for lace?

I have a bonafide reason to start a new knitting project! I got a new laptop (for work) and it needs a carrying case. I am planning on making a felted one with a bunch of leftover wool I have. Remember that pomegranate wool I got off eBay a while ago? That will be the main body color and I think I'll put stripes and circles throughout. Do you know if/where you can buy shock absorbing material such as the lining of laptop cases? I'm sure I can buy it somewhere online, I haven't looked yet.

And I forgot to mention that Wednesday I bought Scarf Style by Pam Allen. I had not picked it up before because I thought it would be trendy--god forbid! Well, I flipped through it and fell in love with almost everything in there! Several styles already have people's names on them for gifts. This really is a good book, especially since it talks about designing and making your own scarves/wraps. Lots of inspiration and I'll take all I can get.

Do you have Scarf Style and what do you think of it?

Wednesday night was swap night at Meetup. It was funny because no one really wanted to part with anything, haha! I got rid of two skeins of Encore which I liked a lot but might not use for ten years, a ball of Patons Grace that was supposed to be the start of a niece sweater, and the leftover black alpaca from M's shrug. I brought home three balls of Patons Seasons in a denim tweed and tons of needles, mostly circular for myself and some big straights for the charity.

I was about 49% complete on the shawl, but I think I need to rip back a couple rows. I dropped a stitch and as Robbyn predicted it just sat there. I picked it up on the next row, but it looks like crap. We'll see. Now that I'm actually home during daylight hours, I will work on it.

It's so beautiful outside. Cold, sunny and calm. There is still plenty of snow in my backyard and--call me crazy--but I want to sit outside and knit. Or maybe take a nap out there. You're right, that is crazy.

What have you swapped lately?

Just put on a pair of pants that I haven't worn since last Valentine's Day, apparently. There was a candy heart in the pocket that said, "Be True". No, I'm not going to eat it.

I have been working on my mom's shawl and the SSP1. The shawl is 44.89% complete. I'm about to put in a really long movie and I think I'll work on the shawl. My mom is having surgery in about three weeks. I wonder if I could finish it by then. Hmm...

What are you trying to finish?

I can't believe it actually works! I was snowed/iced in this weekend and goofing off with some needles and yarn while my bf watched horrible low budget movies. Two words. Pootie Tang. Anyway, I decided to try doubleknitting and it worked!



This is a swatch where I played around with a bunch of stuff. I really like the fabric this creates. I'm definitely going to use this on hats and other items that I want to be really warm. I cast on twice the amount of stitches onto a circ and then folded the circ in half and slid the stitches onto the needle parts. Then I used another needle to work the first row, k1 p1. The first few rows I was like, "This isn't working, it looks like crap" but after an inch or so, it lays flat and looks like stockinette. You can see where I also played around with reverse stockinette, too.

Anyway, that was my big thrill of the weekend. I showed it to my bf, "Look! I double knit!! Isn't that incredibly awesome ?" And he's all, "WOW sweetie, that is so amazing! What are you talking about?" I'm like, "It's like when you were showing me your weld seams." "Oh, okay."

Have you double knit?

The votes are in and the shawl will be the next old project to rejoin the flock. My mom thanks you. It's really a springy thing anyway, she wouldn't have wanted to wear it this winter, right?

Well it snowed here today which caused everyone to lose their frickin' mind. They forgot how to drive, how to park and they raided any store selling food or paper products. I was unimpressed so I went shopping after work. I got some beads at Michaels for the SSP1. I wanted clear glass beads and I bought these two:



I think there's no contest. The ones on the right just look fake and plasticky next to the others. The ones on the left are actually light pink on the inside, can you tell? (Sorry, it's almost impossible to get a picture of clear glass at night.) Plus they're slightly faceted and I think they look more refined. Yes, of course! The ones I want are more than twice as expensive as the others, but this project is worth it.

We had a knitting meetup scheduled for tonight, but no one showed. I'm not surprised, but I happened to be at that end of town, so I waited around just in case someone showed up. One of the ladies is 20 miles away and another just moved here from Florida, so I didn't expect them to drive. But we were going to have a yarn and needle swap tonight, so we were all looking forward to getting new stuff guilt-free.

Do you swap knitting stuff?

Madeleine is done! Well, I still don't have buttons. So no picture and no removing it from the list until it's buttoned and shipped off to colder climes.

I need to pick another long-standing UFO and finish it. It will probably be my mom's Snowdrop Shawl which was supposed to be a birthday present. HEY! I never specified which birthday now did I, mom? Er, I just checked my Excel chart and it seems I haven't worked on that shawl since September 12th. How slackass of me.

I swatched for Super Secret Project #1 (SSP1) today and by swatch I mean I started knitting it, didn't like it and ripped it out. Did I take a freaking tape measure or camera to it before I ripped it out? No. So I still don't know what I'm doing. How fun!

Okay, I'll put this to a vote. What ancient UFO do I pick up next?
1. Mom's Birthday Shawl
2. Colorspun Blankie
3. My first socks
4. Pink striped/cabled sweater that is soooooo old, it was before I started this blog.

Vote Now!

This is the Madeleine sweater with three shoulders seamed up (the fourth is buttoned). The collar stitches are sitting on the needle ready to go! Once I started assembling this, I could judge the size better and I really think it's going to fit Niece #3 for the rest of the winter. I showed it to my mom today and she agreed. Now I just need to finish it up and send it!

I went to Ben Franklin and a yarn shop (I can't really call it local, it's an hour away) today and all I got was needles. Ben Franklin has a good selection of yarns, but nothing that I needed right now . Well, the TLC Wiggles that was on sale was very tempting! The yarn shop had added quite a bit since my last visit, but all the stuff they added was novelty/sparkly stuff. That's cool if that's what you're into. But they had, like, two skeins of sock yarn! And no pink mohair! Basics, people! haha... The store is just not serving my purposes anymore. And the owner is very into telling people exactly what to do. If you're a beginner, I can see where that kind of advice would be helpful. But for someone like myself who wants to get away from patterns and rules, it's not suitable. I don't know why I'm complaining, it's not like it's "my yarn store" anyway. It's too far away and I haven't been there in months.

What are your criteria for "your" yarn shop?

M also got me yarn for Christmas and since I haven't knit anything lately, here it is. Some really cool stuff that I'll use for collars/cuffs and probably some wrist warmers.



What I really want to talk about tonight is cursing/swearing. I enjoy it and I'm good at it. My mom calls me her little sailor. But where I think I'm gifted is in coming up with new curse words, as M has witnessed. Brother, did I ever create some awesome new words tonight in the brief seconds following my bead box falling out of my hands onto the wood floor. I'm surprised you didn't hear me.



They're mostly the little seed and bugle beads. All of my "good" beads were still in their little bags. So I picked up a bunch but then said fuckit, I'll leave the rest of them there. That's me, lazy bum.

I was getting the beads out to swatch for my Super Secret Project #1 but now I don't want to look at another bead tonight. So I'll keep you posted.

What was your worst crafting catastrophe?

Friends, I am plagued. Not by the Black Plague or plague of locusts, but by Second Sleeve Syndrome. You know it. You finish up the last piece of that sweater and go to block, when all of sudden it looks like you have one sleeve and three body pieces. What the..? That was an impression of me this evening, but imagine any string of expletives after that. Here are the Madeleine sleeves.



I double checked the sizes of the needles I used. I counted the stitches and the rows. (I'm only off by three stitches at the widest part, so that can't be it.) The gauge is incredibly different, though, especially at the top seed stitch part. Perhaps this is just the difference in my gauge since several months ago when I set this project aside. I have noticed that I'm knitting very tight lately--I need to relax.

To answer the question forming in your head, no way in hell am I frogging one of those sleeves. I'm going to use the smaller one as the correct size and just take up the extra in the seams of the big one. Because I'm a lazy bum and apparently don't care about the quality of gifts to my little relatives. I'll keep you posted if indeed I turn out to be some other type of bum.

How does your gauge change?

My friend M is awesome, but we all knew that. She spoiled me with tons of christmas gifts, including cool yarn and knitting books. I'll share one of those with you now. And since I better get back in the habit of book reports since I'm going back to school (or else M will shoot me), here goes.

Hollywood Knits style by Suss Cousins
There are some frickin' adorable designs in this book, like the fuzzy baby booties and the keyhole top. But aside from the patterns, Suss also has cool suggestions like making your own "yarn remix" (my term, not hers) by twisting together or knitting together several of your favorite yarns. But MOST importantly, Ms. Cousins is a knitter for several movie costumes and just happened to make the caps and sweaters for Master and Commander, starring my second favorite Russell of all time, Mr. Crowe. I will most definitely be knitting those for my first favorite Russell! In summation (how bookwormy, huh?), the book is cool and of course photographed and styled lusciously. A good addition to your library if you like to use unexpected yarns with delightfully simple patterns.

In knitting news, I plan to finish the last Madeleine sleeve tonight. I may not get much time to do seaming this week as I have to finish up a fabrication job for next weekend. But for god sake, it's a baby sweater, how long could it take to seam? Oh, I still need to pick out buttons, too.

What's your favorite source for buttons?

At work yesterday our network was down for a while and fortunately I brought my knitting. I mentioned this to the office manager and she says, "Really? You knit?" Now who could know me for 5 minutes and not know I knit? Anyway, she says, "Oooh, could you make me a scarf? I want one of those funky fuzzy ones." And as I heard my heart breaking because I realized she wanted novelty yarn, I said, "Yeah sure, for you ." Because it's always good to have your office manager owe you a favor. I implied that it would take a while or perhaps be difficult, but you and I know I'll use #13 or #15 needles and it will take about 45 minutes.

Do you knit for favors?

I've been trying to finish up some of these UFO's laying around--mostly to free up some needles. But tonight I did start a new project--a Wavy scarf in purple Cotton-Ease. See, volleyball has started up again after a holiday break and I need a small simple project to knit on the sidelines. The Madeleine sweater is not simple and the Divine scarf is not small. I can't believe I'm trying to justify this! Haha.

Now that I think about it, I'd rather just fall sleep than go to volleyball. Woo hoo, the excitement, huh? I also just broke up a fight between Dobby and Karmann, aka Psycho and Bitch. This was the worst one that I've been home to witness--god only knows what they do when I'm gone.

Do you have a "spectator" project?

Not much to show in the way of knitting. I finished the front of the Madeleine sweater and started the last sleeve. I need to find three cute buttons.

I saw this cool website, Clan Arans, and was almost suckered into buying a kit. (Not that their stuff isn't nice, I just mean I don't need another thing to knit.) I swear to god, though, I'm seriously considering making Dobby a little sweater for St. Patrick's Day using my family's aran pattern.

Oh, and I think I may make a little poochie sweater for Dobby's rescue-mate, Stevie. He was adopted about a month ago and is apparently very spoiled rotten, so a tiny handknit sweater in some leftover alpaca would be just the thing. He's a little 8 lb. mini doxie, so maybe I'll ask Megan for advice on the sizing.

Have you made an aran sweater?

Yes, I finished the cabley scarf yesterday! Here it is with the Nora hat.



Wintery, huh? I will be donating it to the charity since I didn't finish it in time for a Christmas present. Besides, I originally bought this acrylic boucle with the charity in mind.

I am currently whitening my teeth with those strips and I don't know if I can do this again. The warnings are like, "don't get it on your clothes and it may temporarily turn your hands white" but yet I'm swallowing this stuff with my saliva. It's grossing me out. The price of beauty, right?

I will post pics of the Divine set later. Happy New Year! Did you have fun?

Postscript: I have picked up the Madeleine sweater to finish before Niece #3 is too big. I have also started on a super secret project. Giggle!