Frog Is A Four Letter Word

I love the colors in this hand dyed, handspun wool. They're not soft enough to be socks or gloves, but I have enough to do Misty Garden. I know, it's not even close, but the colors would be the same.



If I didn't do Misty or some other scarf, what could I make with 300 yards of sportweight wool?

Going to try to finish up the Phildar sheep parts this evening. Or at least one set of appendages. The head and body are done and the felt ears are cut out. I'm seeing Nephew #3 Saturday, so I'd like to give it to him then. No doubt he will proceed to rip it apart or throw it in the toilet. Gotta love little boys.

I am sick of talking about my mom's shawl. Aren't you sick of hearing about it? haha. It's 97.49% complete, though I now believe my math is a wee bit off because I still have 8 rows to go. I need to be binding off by Sunday and start blocking by Tuesday. Christ, this is like work.

In yarn news, I've decided to dye the CE Spotlight that is grey into a light blue. I'm going to dye the yarn as opposed to the finished item because my dye jobs never come out consistent. I'd rather have variance in the yarn than on the whole garment. Did that make any sense? Also, I've got into a couple yarn trades. StichinGirl is sending me this cotton/rayon and I'm trading The Fearless Knitter for some groovy sock yarn and accessories.

Do you like to trade?

My apologies to Herrschner's. Their shipping is not slow, my postal person is. Not slow speedwise. Slow in the head. I was walking by the front door this evening and something made me open it to check between the storm door and the main door. There was my package, snug and secure where no one would ever find it. I even keep the storm door locked so people can't leave stuff inside it. Postal person must have just yanked really hard until it opened (you know those locks on storm doors aren't too sturdy). Lazy jackass. I usually leave a little sign on the door that says to leave packages at the side door. And they had been doing a great job so I took it down. sigh.

Anyway, I now have the rest of my Fresco (Michelle, it is also called Miami, but neither are listed on the Patons site.) to work on Boogie. And I received the Classic Elite Spotlight. It's very nice but the color was nothing like what I was expecting. I don't think I'll use this color, so I'll either send it back or dye it.

What would you do with 7 skeins of cotton in the wrong color?

Several pieces of the Phildar sheep are completed. Here's a shot of the body done in Phildar "Terre Neuve". Isn't this some crazy soft sheepy texture? I love it.



I had a crazy enabler idea today. I was putting together a box of stuff for my mom to do in bed while she's recuperating from her surgery. Lots of books, some handquilting, cross-stitch. And I remembered mom saying she used to knit way before I was born, so I threw in some very simple projects I started like Wavy and another garter stitch scarf for the charity. You see where I'm going with this. I'm not really giving mom something to prevent boredom. I'm getting her to finish my UFO's!!! *evil laugh*

I may even create some sort of monster here, since mom is Uber-Grandmom and who doesn't love to knit for kids? Heck, I go nuts making stuff for them and they're not even my grandkids! Just imagine what a talented semi-retired grandmom might get into. Uh oh. This may turn ugly. I'll keep you posted.

I also went to my favorite nursery today and totally got spring fever. I've been thinking about doing a gardening blog and my friend A from L.A. might co-blog with me. It will be a nifty east coast/west coast thing since our gardening styles and materials are sooo different now. I'll put up the link when it's ready to go.

Is your mom crafty?

What was the first and most common piece of advice people gave me with ebony needles? Yeah, "Don't knit dark yarn". What was the very first thing I did? Cast on with BLACK worsted weight yarn. I am typing this by braille now.

I started the little Phildar sheep kit for Nephew #3. The pattern is in French, but my secret pal was sweet enough to translate. I'm still messing it up, though. That's okay, N#3 is only a year and a half old. I doubt he'll be critiquing my work.

Are you stopping by here expecting to see something to the effect, "Yay, I finished my mom's shawl!" any day now? Me too. Really, I fall asleep every night after one or two rows. But this weekend will definitely push me over the 90% mark. I have to remember that there's an i-cord bind-off and all that blocking to do.

Still waiting on my Herrschner's order. *tap tap*

What knitting project was the most difficult to see?

Please someone hit me upside the head to remove "Ebony and Ivory" from my brain. I can't stop singing it when I play with my new ebony needles. I haven't actually used them because that would mean starting a new project and I mustn't. My mom's shawl is 85.69% complete, by the pattern. I'm planning on adding a repeat or so beyond that, whatever time allows. I only get a couple right-side rows done per night before I fall asleep. I know, envious of my lifestyle you are.

Have you tried ebony needles?

That's what bunnies do, multiply. Another one sprung up today in Moda Dea "Dream". I liked it better before the addition of eyes and nose. Now it looks like a pig. But hey, pigs need love, too.



I must, must, must concentrate on my mom's shawl. I must not start on another bunny for one of my nieces/nephews* using this blue Patons Divine I have lying around. Oops. Too late. But seriously, right after I finish this blue bunny I must, must, must finish my mom's shawl. I mean it. I can't start on the Phildar sheep kit for my other nephew. Or finish up the Boogie vest as soon as my Herrschner's order arrives. No, none of those.

*Hey. Does anyone know a word for the general category of niece and/or nephew? Like, "I have 6 nephieces and I want just one word to describe them." Thanks.

Edited to Add:
NIBLINGS!! I've got it! Niblings, as in not siblings, but nieces and nephews. Thanks to this article for providing the right word.

No, I'm not getting all philosophical with that title. I just mean that I've been practicing new cast-ons and bind-offs. Swatches are the perfect place to practice things, right? Here are my green swatches for my vest. This is the Dalegarn--actually I'm not sure what the name of this yarn is. It's from Dale, and it says Dalegarn on it, but then it also says Free Style on it. Anyway, this is some soft wool, not scratchy at all, and very sproingy (technical term there for ya). I did a knitted cast on, not that you could see it--great photography there, Laura. Then I used an Icelandic bind-off. Still undecided on that.



Here is the Distrato. Can you believe the only 6mm needles I own are these kiddie needles? I just keep smiling back at the little happy face every time I get to the end of a row! I made this swatch extra wide so I could see how long the fuzz repeat would be. Taking into account the width of the vest, the repeat will be slightly less than half of that pictured here. That will be fine for me as I actually like the look of the fuzzy part better. At Robbyn's suggestion I used the cable cast-on for this. And since Vogue Knitting says the cable cast-on is perfect for ribbing, I thought that was very appropriate. I didn't bother binding off because I'm a lazy, reluctant swatcher and it's a wonder I made it that far.



Oh and my Herrschner's order shipped today! And FRICKING FINALLY my order from theknitter.com shipped!! I can't share exactly what's it is since some of it is for someone. Lost yet? It's late, I can only make less sense from now on, so I might as well go to bed.

What's your favorite cast-on/bind-off?

Happy St. Patty's Day. I stepped out into my back yard and shook my fist at the hibernating snakes. Now for the other "tradition", drinking. Although it's only a once-a-year tradition if you're not irish. haha.

When I got home, my birthday present from M was filling my kitchen with awesome fragance. She got me a Coffee Of The Month deal, how awesome!! Plus the two bags of coffee come with a bag of cookies! What more does one need? Just some hot water...

I like to knit something green on this day, and while my mom's shawl certainly qualifies, that's booooring. (FYI, it is now 82.45% complete.) So I think I'll swatch those yarns I bought for a vest. I'm not terribly concerned about following the pattern, but I will need to know what my gauge is regardless.

Are you knitting anything green?

I've got to stop making sweaters in March and tank tops in October. So. Today I ordered some Classic Elite Spotlight in the morning mist colorway to make a summer top. I'm thinking either Glampyre's Cold Shoulder or Cleo. Both of these tops will require the shedding of 10 to 15 pounds, but that's okay. I generally lose a bit when the days get longer and I'm more active. And I need to get rid of it anyway.

I also ordered more Fresco to finish up Boogie. That could be considered a warm weather top, especially since it's YELLOW. I went to Michael's Sunday looking for the Fresco, but they didn't have it. They have every other frickin' Patons yarn, but not that one. I picked up a ball of Moda Dea Dream in soft pink for another bunny for the nieces/nephews. One group of them is half way across the country, so I need to get these made and ship them out.

And last but not least, friends, I post this entry with blazing speed from the kitchen counter. That's right, the house of Four Letter Words is now on a wireless cable connection. I shall ne'er stop surfing now!

What are your warm weather projects?

The back of Boogie is blocking now. I made a couple tiny adjustments: I made the armhole shaping a little deeper because tight armholes are a serious pet peeve of mine; and I gave the back of the neck a little shaping since the pattern calls for a straight neck.

I have run out of yarn. Well I have half a ball left, enough to cast on for the front and do a wee bit of ribbing. I bought the Fresco at Ben Franklin's, which is an hour away and the only place in the area that sells it. This afternoon would be my only opportunity to drive up there and get more, but I promised to hang out with the in-laws. Decisions, decisions. Oh, I just found it online at Herrschner's and it's on sale! Problem solved.

Michelle asked what I thought of the Fresco. It is very soft and feels good on your hands while you're working with it. And hey, machine washable always rocks. However, this is a ribbon-like yarn and I forgot the lessons I learned about ribbon yarn. 1. It is very heavy when made into anything bigger than a scarf. 2. It twists so insanely while you're working with it, that I have to stop at the end of every other row to untwist it. If it weren't for the time I have to spend untwisting, I would have been done by now. I've tried winding it up into different balls, but it twists no matter what you do with it. So, I would be hesitant to recommend it for anything larger than baby clothes or a scarf.

Have you bought from Herrschner's before? What did you think?

It's probably a good idea that I'm just working on the plain stockinette back to Boogie right now. Between falling asleep and feeling like I'm floating, I don't think I'd make much progress on my mom's shawl. Speaking of that, talked to my mom yesterday and her surgery is April 6th. 28 days to do 20 right-side rows. I can definitely handle that. Although, as I mentioned before, I will have extra yarn and if I could make it a little bigger I will try to.

There was something else I was going to tell you, but the Nyquil made me forget. So here are some random decongestant-blurred thoughts:
1. I just watched A Texas Funeral and there's knitting in it.
2. I've had a thing for Robert Patrick ever since T2.
3. Once I met a guy in a bar who looked just like him and I gave him a ride home. He said my truck was the filthiest pigpen he'd ever seen.
4. I'll need to buy about three more skeins of Fresco to finish Boogie.
5. I bought the Winter Vogue Knitting today--only MONTHS behind the times.
6. I'm never again knitting a tubular garment flat and then seaming it. Pointless.

I guess that's it. Thanks for going along on the ride with me. What's your current mindless knitting project?

It was very foolish of me to mention the word "spring" when we still have 11 days of winter left. Mom Nature thought it was foolish, too, and sent me some snow to prove it. After a gorgeous weekend of 50 and 60 degree weather, we now have snow, sleet and heavy winds.



Here are some assorted finches clinging onto the feeder this afternoon. You may be able to see that one side of the feeder is covered with snow, since our winds are blowing at almost a 90 degree angle.

It's okay, because I'm home sick anyway. Bad cold or something, but the doc says I'm contagious so gotta stay away from the office. Darn! The back of Boogie is almost to the arm shaping, though I keep falling asleep about every 5 rows, so progress is slow. I may also start another bunny for the Bunny Along. I just read the instructions for the animals from Knitter's Stash and it's tube knitting on straight needles--my fave! Again, I'm sure there are millions of directions out there, but here are some instructions for tube knitting on straights and a cool rug to boot! That's all for now, stay warm.

Have you knit tubes on straight needles?

Nothing says spring like yellow, green and bunnies. Let's get right into it. Here's a Polarspun bunny for one of the nieces/nephews. Why, yes he does have tie-dyed ears and tail. He's feeling spring, man, and it's groovy.



I got started on Boogie with my yellow Fresco. Here's the back--don't ask me why I'm not just knitting this in the round--and I used a knitted cast-on for the first time. LOVE it. (There are probably tons of instructions out there, but I found mine in the pattern for Miss Dashwood.)



And I went to The Fine Needle on Friday and splurged on something for myself. Can you believe it? I never buy anything for myself. Anyway, it's Distrato and Dalegarn for the vest pictured from the first issue of Knit.1. Make fun of that mag all you like, but I'm on a vest rampage and this one will do! The cool thing about the Distrato is the furry part is self-striping, so it goes from furry to smooth. How cool is that? It was also $10 a ball, that's where the splurge part comes in.



But it was my birthday, so the splurge was justified. Thanks to all for the birthday wishes. It was an awesome weekend and I did exactly what I wanted--nothing! (Except knit and shop, obviously.) Oh, I also bought the Spring Cast On and while there's nothing earth shattering in there, I like several of the short sleeve/sleeveless tops. They also had an article on decreases and how to make them look great. That alone was worth it because you know so few patterns specify which decreases to use.

Have you done a knitted cast on?

I could not describe my week without using expletives, so let's just forget it ever happened. I am officially on vacation (an ultra-mini vacation of one day) since tomorrow is the day of my birth and it's against my religion to work that day. Don't get me wrong, I try to avoid work every day, but some days it cannot be helped.

It will be a day/weekend of doing nothing except watching movies, eating, knitting and shopping. I consider all of those things "doing nothing" when compared to the alternatives. The knitting projects I'm taking with me are: mom's shawl (76%!!); Boogie in Yellow Patons Fresco; and several bunnies for nieces and nephews. The last items will be my bit for the Bunny A Long that I just emailed to join. I want to use the mindless Heartstrings pattern that I mentioned before for a couple bunnies (seriously, people, you knit a SQUARE) and since I already have Knitter's Stash on loan, the rabbit from that book.

That should be enough knitting to keep me occupied in between naps. *yawn* Do you have any Spring/Easter knitting?