Frog Is A Four Letter Word

Remember a while ago I said I wanted to knit something for a friend's baby girl? Well, that was three months ago and I haven't started a thing. Which is good, actually. Because the baby was born early and it's a BOY.

Surprise!

Uh, obviously they are a bit more surprised than others. Haha, gotta love technology, right? And my friend knows that if I had worked hard and completed Miss Dashwood I totally would have sent it and expected their baby boy to wear it. Because I'm stubborn like that.

But now I'm all stoked and want to make something super adorable. And baby stuff finishes up so quickly because it's tiny like that. I know, I've had an ongoing sock for a year and a half, but that's different I swear. I have some denim-y, tweed-y blue yarn and a Maggiknits pattern for a little vest that may work well together.

The cotton wrap is progressing, it's about 20" long now. I love knitting with cotton and if that makes me weird, so be it. Speaking of cotton, perhaps I shall dye up that Spotlight I have since it won't fricking stop raining on my three day weekend!

If this were not a three day weekend, I think I would need a vacation day anyway. I am not planning much, maybe a bbq on Sunday. I have work to do this weekend So perhaps all I'll plan on is knitting.

Thanks to everyone for their offers of help with my needle. The next morning my friend E called to say she was going to Sea Needles so she picked up one for me.

I got a Herrschner's catalog in the mail and most of it is total crap but they do carry all the colorways of Cotton Tots. On the cheap!

Well, this post is pretty boring and I feel like I'm too tired to make sense. So happy trails until sometime this weekend when I'll have a pic of an almost finished cotton wrap!

The cotton wrap is moving along. I hope to get another inch or so done tonight before I pass out. The wrap will be nice for evenings like tonight where it turns chilly all of a sudden. There is not as much blue as this picture would lead you to believe. It's mostly green, brown and yellow.



I'm not working on the sock because the joins on my circular are so horrible. I need to order an Addi or something online because I won't have a chance to get to a yarn store for a couple weeks. And of course I can't just order one needle because that would be a waste of shipping. Haha.

Maybe I should get some roving. The fleece I got a couple weeks ago is not spinning well because of my lack of skill and because it's not prepared for spinning. How do I get "fleece" into "roving"? Comb it?

I am making a wrap with the beaded cotton using the stitch pattern used in Holey Moley which is originally from Barbara Walker's Third Treasury of Knitting Patterns. (I need to add those books to my wish list, don't I?)

Anyway, I've used one ounce of the eight ounces that were in the hank. How do I know? Damn right, I bought a kitchen scale. And you should all know by now that I do not cook. My boyfriend took one look at it and said, "That's for yaaarrrn, isn't it?" That's why I love him.

I think the scale will really help with the dyeing projects I have in mind. Plus all sorts of other yarny adventures. Today I also bought a huge glass jar to put on my desk and fill with yarn. Then if when I get stressed at work and want to pretend I'm elsewhere, I can gaze at the yarn or take it out and play with it.

Do you weigh yarn?

I stopped at The Fine Needle on Thursday looking for a decent #1 circular for my sock, but instead found some more Blue Heron beaded cotton. The name of the colorway is Tigers Eye.



Cool, no? I'm not so crazy about the colors once they're wound into a ball, though. It's already becoming an openwork summery wrap.

Also, I finally was able to load my sock picture.



Only a few more rounds have been done since this picture was taken. After all, last night was the season finale of CSI: Uh, may I humbly say that Quentin Tarantino should stick to movies? Okay, that's settled.

Do you have a local (to you) yarn company/designer that you like?

Hey gang! Boy, do I have an awesome picture of my first sock heel to show you! You're not going to see it though until Myimgs.com decides you can. It seems that even though I pay for the service, they really run the show.

Just imagine my left foot swathed in red/orange/pink striped wool including the HEEL. Also imagine my feet smiling inside the sock because it's sooooo comfy! Who knew wool would be this soft and pleasurable? The heel was far, far easier than I thought it would be. Even though the website for Wendy's sock pattern was down all weekend and I couldn't find my printout from last year when I began this sock, I found some directions for a short row heel from the toe. I guess the directions would be exactly the same if you're coming from the cuff, but I didn't know that before I did the heel.

The picking up of the short row wraps did not produce *ahem* professional results, so I will most likely keep this pair of socks. And even though everyone who has seen the sock this week has requested a pair, I don't see me becoming a sockknitter. But I could be wrong (not really, but I hear it's the modest thing to say).

Thanks everyone for digging through your stash to find sock scraps for me. Kristi, I will totally take you up on your offer (I'll email you). Oh yeah, go check out the awesome stoles Kristi and C made for C's wedding. I like the excuse for gorgeous clothes that weddings provide, it's that baggage that comes along with them that's the downer. :)

Have you knit things to wear in weddings?

"Uh, hey dudes. I'm an alpaca."
"Oh hey! We're assorted barnyard habitants."
"Yeah, I can see that with my teeny yarn eyes."
"Smartass."
"No, alpaca. I think the ass is on the middle finger there."

You may have seen these groovy dudes at MDS&W, they were right across from the bathrooms and next to the bluegrass music. I showed it to my SIL and she had been thinking of getting Nephew #3 a set of fingerpuppets for birthday this summer. So of course I offered to make them!

Now what I need are lots of scraps of solid colored sockweight wool. E gave me a ball of grey and navy blue. Do you have any sock wool scraps (and I mean scraps! Even just a couple yards of something!) you would want to send me? I'll send you something in return. My other option is to buy lots of balls of sock yarn, but that would mean becoming a socknitter.

Speaking of socks--in an effort to free up some small dpns for the fingerpuppets, I put my sock in progress on a long circ and worked a few rounds using the Magic Loop. For people who hate dpns as much as I do, this is a cool method. You just know the first person to figure it out was like, "I'm a goddamn genius!" So the First Sock is back in the WIP pile. But don't hold your breath.

Have you made any puppets or fingerpuppets?

I had a great Mother's Day weekend. I got to see my birthson and he gave me some gorgeous finger-painted masterpieces for the fridge. I rarely ask for anything from my bf and I never specify what I want except on Mother's Day. I insist on jewelry. Really, because he had the easy part. Haha. Here are some Stitch Diva flowers I made on the drive up for my SIL.



Of course I also went to the MD Sheep & Wool Festival. Wow, the weather was so gorgeous, it really made the day. I found the things I was looking for: a drop spindle; some fleece; and a birthday present for E. She doesn't read this so I can tell you it's some handpainted mohair from Blue Ridge Yarn or Misty Mountain Farm, whichever. The following pictures are for M, who missed out on crowds and acres of parking.





Sorry you weren't there to elbow and shove your way through the throngs, M. Or attempt to run people over in the parking pasture. I know those are right up your alley.

J. Crew has totally strayed from its roots. I mean, they have a frickin' wedding catalog now. Please. Anyway, I forgive them because in the catalog I just received today they have a belt with beagles on it. BEAGLES!



Sitting atop the catalog is tonight's FO, a Stitch Diva flower using from the inside out: Bamboo; Fresco; and Boa. These bitches are so fun to make and it only takes twenty minutes!

Go crochet a flower!

I finished up Boogie and wore it to work today! Sorry I didn't get a "before" picture but here I am "after", dog tired with wrinkled clothes. No one came here to see me anyway, it's all about the knitting.



Short of getting my April FO page up, here are the specs.
Pattern: Boogie by Amy King. Dammit, I should have been drinking coffee like her pose.
Yarn: Patons Fresco (or Miami depending on where you are in the world) 5.5 balls
Needles: #9

I've picked up my purple Wavy to finish. I am not struck with inspiration by anything in my stash right now. Besides I'm sure I'll find plenty of inspiration at MDS&W. Aren't you totally sick of hearing about it? Can't you just wait for it to be over? Oh but then everyone will have pictures and stories for weeks to follow.

What are you thoughts on vests?