Yarn Crawl

Weekend Results!!

After a Friday night along the lines of this (getting irritated with picture-boy on this one, and just wanting to drink my martini already!!) ....I hate posing after work, with after-work makeup and hair. Yuck!

I got up to the armholes and joined the body on the Turtleneck Tube Vest - here's my post about it on the Fitted Knits Along site....but here's a pic. I'm really happy with how this is turning out! Jim remarked that he thought this will be one of my best knits (interesting, as it's one of the simplest) and that he really likes it.

I also started and finished the "ladder lace section" (middle part) of the Ribs and Lace Tank. I am making this a lot shorter than it says to in the pattern. It said the finished length was like 24"!! Hello, my whole body is 61"!!! I measured another similarly shaped top (that goes to my hip) and it was 16.5" from the bust to the hem. I just switched to the size 3 addis (had to go down one needle size on both sections) though for the top ribbing and I have a feeling this will be a little slower going. Oh well, I am really happy to be at this point!

I also 1.) bought a new router and set up a new network for my high speed internet connection at home as I just got a new laptop at work that didn't work with the old technology 2.) caught up on three "modules" of lectures for my online class while I worked on Ribs and Lace 3.) worked on my paper for the financial analysis class 4.) read the FINAL chapter for my financial analysis class 5.) did my homework for the FINAL chapter of my financial analysis class 6.) went out for sushi and martinis at my favorite sushi place, Blu Coral 7.) went out to Carlucci's tonight for dinner and 8) even did my treadmill this morning. Whew. I am EXHAUSTED.

Tomorrow starts my 7:30 days at work as we start our "summer hours" (Friday afternoons off) so I have to make sure I get up in time to do the treadmill. I cannot wait for that (summer hours, not the treadmill) either. This financial analysis class is one more week (final a week from tomorrow) so that will be a relief. Even though it is pretty easy, it is still a lot of homework and takes a lot of time.

I think I am going to go to bed early and listen to an audiobook and relax. I'm still listening to the 2nd book in the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon - Dragonfly in Amber. It is taking me awhile to get through this one. Each book in the series is about 40 hours of listening time, and I'm about 20 hours into the 2nd book now. It is really really really detailed but good.

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Friday's Here!

Ahhhh, it’s finally almost the weekend! It has been a busy work week and I am SO looking forward to some time to just hang out around the house and knit and sew and work on my analysis paper (that’s due a week from Monday - eeek.) As I have gotten older I think I have really started to need my “alone time” or time just with Jim.

Because I really need to get a lot done on the paper this weekend, as well as work on some sewing, I’m setting my knitting expectations low. I hope to get the front and back (up to the armholes) done on the Turtleneck Tube Vest this weekend so I can join them to start the lower body. I think I can get this done pretty easily as I don’t have too much more to do on the front after last night’s session.

Here it is so far - the first picture shows the whole garment better (which I tried on and it fits well) and the second one shows the color better (Lilac Haze in Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece.)

I also would like to finish the construction on the Fibertrends Felted Lamb and get him felted. That’s it! Ribs and Lace, Airy Wrap –maybe a few rows. I’ve got the one side of the Airy Wrap up to 36” now – so about 9” more to go and then the 20 more rows for the border, but I probably won’t get that done til the end of next week. If I decide to get crazy, I might pick up the stitches on the Debbie Bliss Lace & Bobble Jacket. I never know what I’m going to feel like working on, though – that’s why I like having so many projects going. Gotta have a variety of things for when the mood strikes.

Next weekend I will probably buy some yarn for the Hokie Healing squares when I visit Threadbear. I also need to figure out what “treat” I should buy for myself this week b/c of my consistent (every day this week!) treadmill use. I’ve set a target of about $25 or less, but I may wait and combine it with next week’s treat. Last week’s treat was a set of two new crochet books from my Crafter’s Choice monthly selection.

Happy Knitting everyone! Have a great weekend!

Miscellaneous Craziness...

I have had start-itis lately and it seems like I have cast on a new project every day!

Sunday night it was the Ribs and Lace Tank, which I blogged about yesterday. I joined the Interweave Knitalong yesterday as well and am excited about this as I have yarn specifically bought for at least two other projects from back issues of Interweave! That is my absolute favorite magazine.

Last night it was the Turtleneck Tube Vest for the Fitted Knitsalong. Here's how far I got with it - almost 2". I think I am going to make this 4" instead of the 5" the pattern suggests.

What else? I've been working on my paper for school (due May 7th) and my road trip to Threadbear in Michigan is next weekend.

Here's a funny one - in Jim's further adventures in hairstyling, I let him use one of these Root Touch Up kits (Nice -n- Easy in Medium Golden Brown, if you can believe that!) on my roots the other day as I swear these things grow in like weeds! I would be in the hair salon every three weeks if I went there every time I needed to get a touch up (before, what I would do is just put my hair back in a barrette for like three weeks until my six week appt, as it's only underneath and you can't see it that way.) My hair is almost all growing in gray! It is hereditary in my family, although you'd never know it, as my mom started needing to color her hair in her 20s and was almost all gray (if she wouldn't have colored it) at my age (35.) It's pretty wild if you think about it though - people always think I'm younger than 35, but I can't imagine how much older I would look if I didn't color my hair! Eeek. Best not to find out.

Jim was so proud of his handiwork that he wanted my Wordless Wednesday pic to be a pic of my roots after coloring - I'm like, no, I don't think people really want to see a closeup of the top of my head. Yeah, I believe this is all part of his mid-life crisis (exploring alternative careers, etc.) But anyway...I know I may sound cheap for not just going into the hair salon every three weeks, but I absolutely HATE sitting there and I hate spending money on it. When I get my hair highlighted, plus the roots/underneath color done and hair cut, I wind up spending almost $300!! It can add up quickly.

However, lest you think I'm frugal (doubt anyone would anyway) I would have no problem spending $350 on this new digital camera. I was looking for a camera with a WiFi feature so I could take pics while I'm out and about and upload them wirelessly. I could do it with a camera phone, but I don't know of a camera phone with a high resolution camera. Plus I get a free Blackberry from work so don't really need a phone. My digital camera is probably four years old or so, and not as high resolution as this one (it is 5 mp, this one is 7mp.) I also like that this new one has an anti-shake feature so my highly caffeinated self could take better, clearer pictures for y'all. You've put up with blurry pictures (when I take them!) long enough!

On a more serious note, check out this charity knitting effort for families of the victims of the Virginia Tech tragedy. Check your stash for the Hokie colors (Phyl lists some examples and links on her blog) and knit a square (or two or three, etc.) to be entered to win a prize from Phyl. I think this is great that she's supporting this effort with a prize from her stash. Pass it on! We need a LOT of squares (over 2000) for the blankets.

I leave you with a random knitting/cat picture (post root touchup!) Ignore the goofy look on my face, this was picture #10 or so...

Wordless Wednesday

Started Ribs and Lace Tank!

I decided to go ahead and cast on for the Ribs and Lace Tank last night - here's a pic after Round 6. The lace pattern is just starting to develop! I like this project. Now I am even more in love with Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece - must go troll Ebay for more discontinued shades for $4 a 200+ yard skein!

Rusted Root FO and Weekend Update

Well, I feel like I got a lot accomplished this weekend!

First up, I finished Rusted Root.

I like the fit of the body (could have been a little snugger but it is not 100% dry yet in the pics so it's bagging a little on the sides) but the sleeves are a little too tight and I'm thinking that I shouldn't have knitted these on a smaller needle as the pattern suggests. I made the same size for Green Gable and didn't have a problem, but that one didn't say to knit the sleeves on a smaller needle. May be reknitting them if I can find the woven in ends. It should be no big deal as it only was a few rounds.

The Airy Wrap - I reknitted the back and am a lot happier with the length now. I also picked up for the right front and have three of the lace repeats done. LOTS more to go for 45" though (and this is the smallest size.)

I worked on Orangina and got four more rows done. I figured out why this is taking so long - I got stitch gauge perfectly (even on the recommended size 3 needles!) but am not getting near the row gauge as I'm not using the Rowan 4 Ply Cotton, but am using Brown Sheep Cotton Fine instead. So I still like it (have just over 9" knitted on the back) but am resigning myself to it taking forever without monogamous knitting (which would make me crazy.)

I started the Fibertrends felted lamb on Friday night and I am almost done with all the picking up, etc. Next up will be seaming, felting and stuffing! This is a fun project for those times when you're in the mood for row by row instructions with something different to do on every row. And lots and lots of short rows!

I know what my next project will be and it's not any of the ones that were on my list the other day! It is the Ribs and Lace tank from the most recent Interweave Knits. Adrienne has this one on her list and so I took a look at it - ended up really liking it - AND I have some - you guessed it- Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece that will work well for this in my stash, in Terracotta Canyon. It is more of a dark mango than the bright melon color it looks like in the pic.

I swatched for it and love it. I like knitting with this yarn at a larger gauge - it gets very nice and drapey. I like the pattern too - reminds me a little bit of Eiffel except without all the pesky hemp-related hand injuries (LOL).

The last thing is that I got up early this morning and cut out all the pattern pieces for the wrap dress I pictured on my blog last Wednesday!! Here they are, piled up next to my sewing machine.

I have had this fear of sewing lately that I can't really explain - maybe more a laziness or hesitance to dig into it than a fear, exactly. This helped me break right through it. The way I told myself to look at it is, it doesn't matter how long it takes to lay out and cut the pattern pieces, because that whole process is equivalent to the knitting the pieces of a sweater. Sewing is just assembly. Now I know anyone could figure this out, but it helped me to look at it this way and helped me curb my impatience/hesitance to want to lay out the fabric just right and align the pieces exactly right on grain, etc. etc. The other thing I thought to myself is that doing something is always better than doing nothing - i.e. counteracting my perfectionistic tendencies with action.

I also went to Hancock Fabrics and bought this

They only had a yard left, but it was $1.99!! Cute, huh? I think it will make a cute little Lilly Pulitzer-esque summer skirt.

Another interesting thing is that I went to the eye doctor for a routine exam yesterday and they told me that my prescription had actually improved by a whole number in one eye (less nearsighted.) Instead of thinking that this must mean I'm getting old (especially as I AM doing my makeup a little farther away from the mirror now) I will take it as getting better as the years go by!

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Friday's Here!!!!

Happy Friday, everyone!! I thought it would never come.

I was thinking about the Sweater a Month KAL I joined and thought I would recap the sweaters I've finished so far this year. All of these were started and completed in 2007.

1. Jim's RYC Soft Tweed sweater
2. Charlotte
3. Wicked
4. Eiffel
5. Green Gable
6. Kochoran Skinny Rib Sweater
7. Ines

In a few days I will be finishing Rusted Root (pics to come by Monday after washing and blocking). I also am very close on the Debbie Bliss Lace & Bobble Jacket (which I did start last year and only got about 1/3 of the way through prior to this calendar year) and the Airy Wrap.

So I'm thinking that by the end of April I will have completed at least 8 sweaters and possibly up to 10. Wow! I am kind of impressed with myself. I had thought it would be hard to do 12 sweaters in a year, but really it hasn't been at all! So maybe now I can relax a little and focus on some sewing.

I also finally got My Year of Meats in the mail yesterday for The Written Word discussion that starts Monday. I love this book. I can't even tell you the last time I physically read a book instead of listening to it, but I was working on the Airy Wrap last night, reknitting the back, and kept having "issues" so decided to put the knitting away for the rest of the evening and read. I got to page 160 in two hours! I definitely will be able to finish this by the end of the weekend to be ready for the discussion on Monday, which I didn't expect!

I am trying to decide what I want to knit next and have a lot of choices swirling around in my head. The Knit Cafe skirt (which I think I will make in Silky Wool from my stash in either cinnamon or olive green), Mentionable (in the Yarn Botanika I got this week in Cosmos colorway), the Coquette Lace Tube Top or Turtleneck Tube Vest from Fitted Knits or something else entirely from Fitted Knits, the Waterlily Top from last summer's IK using some coral/green/cream Colinette Giotto from my stash, the Fibertrends felted lamb, Sahara using the Tilli Tomas Exotica for the neck and some other yarn for the body, etc. etc. The list goes on and on and on. The good thing is, I have the yarn already for almost all of it! Now I need to decide what my treat for doing the treadmill all week should be. Maybe a book from my Amazon wish list, or the hairpin lace loom. Hmmm.

The Adventures of Judge Jim

Ok, so here's the crazy story of the day.

I'm in my bathroom this morning starting to blow dry my hair, and Jim comes by to chat. I say I'm having trouble working with my new haircut as it's now more layered all over (not stressed out or anything, just making an observation) and he takes the hairdryer and brush and says, "Let me try". It took a lot of trust for me to just let him do it and not worry about what it would turn out like, but I thought, "What's the worst that could happen? I just brush it a different way or put it into a barrette?"

So.... he then proceeds to dry my hair and take pictures of his handiwork. He did a really good job! (If you ever wondered what I look without a bit of makeup on my face - scary - this is it. I tried to talk him into letting me put makeup on first, but he's all about keeping it real.)

Anyway, last night I finished Rusted Root except for grafting the underarm stitches and weaving in the ends. It is a little lacey (holey) around the neck, but I'm going to call it a design feature. I will have Judge Jim take a pic of me wearing it once I've done those last few things to it and blocked it. Question for those of you who finished RR - I know it says to block it, but did you really do it? I think it might make the flower design look better but I am wondering if it really needs it as it will be stretched out when I wear it. I guess I'll try it on and see.

I feel like my week is getting better - every day closer to Friday is a plus - but I do have more stuff to do homework-wise. Papers, reading, etc. are all in my immediate future. However, I do want to get the Airy Wrap sweater DONE finally and cast on for something new. Orangina and Josephine are longer-term projects so I'm not going to wait to get those done first. Josephine's really a fall/winter sweater so that'll be last. I should finish the dreaded Lace & Bobble Jacket (picking up 250 stitches and doing ribbing around the entire thing) soon too.

Wordless Wednesday!

Buying Spree...

Over the past few weeks, I've been on a mini-spending spree and I realized that I hadn't taken pictures of anything yet. So here's lots of pics to make up for it:

First, I got my skein of Yarn Botanika in the Cosmos colorway yesterday for Mentionable! It is even prettier in person - I love it and I can't wait to finish a few more projects so I can cast on for this one.

Next up, Adrienne sent me this fabulous book, Lace Style, as a thank you for being on her podcast with Toya and helping her with her shrug and knitting questions. This was SO NICE - she didn't have to do anything at all, but I love this book and it was on my wish list for awhile. Thanks again - I absolutely LOVE it!

This arrived last Friday - to make the Skirt of Dreams that Lara made. I haven't figured out if I'm using the recommended yarn for it (probably) or something for my stash. This is a really nice book though and there's some other projects I may also make from here, even though I bought it sight unseen, for the skirt pattern. Good call, Lara!

I also picked up the latest copy of Interweave Crochet from my local yarn shop and have a few projects I'm eyeing from there. Have to finish the Josephine pullover first though, and I'm not even close to being done with the knitted part!

Also picked this up at my LYS

because I LOVED the sweater below. They had the sample there in the store. The design is clearly simple and intended to highlight the ribbon yarn used to make it (have to look up what it was) but I'm not sure I'll enjoy working with that yarn. I love some ribbon yarns (K1C2 Tartalette, for example) and hate others. I'll have to buy a skein and swatch with it before committing to an entire project.

The last thing was a pattern that I got with my kpixie order for the Yarn Botanika - a pattern for some Karabella Melange superfine merino in the black/white colorway that I have in my stash.

Other than that, I was busy to the max yesterday. Unbelievable. I ended up needing a mental health night and skipped my MBA class and worked on Rusted Root as "therapy." I'm halfway through the bottom ribbing - 6 more rounds to go there.

I'm really hoping for a better day today. I did read everyone's comments over the weekend and will be responding, but it may take me a few days as I don't think I'll be on email much today. I'm crazy busy at work with quarter end and other projects, I had my new online class start up yesterday, I have to get my paper done for my MBA class ending in a few weeks and I am feeling like a chicken without a head. Now on to the treadmill. Hope you're all having a better week than I am!