Merry Christmas!

Little Pam Voices Inside My Head

Alright. Here! Here is *something* that I can show. Don't think that I don't know what you're up to Ms. Pam. All that pressure... I can hear you as I try to quickly finish another project, but it's taking too long. I almost had it completed Friday night and quietly wondered whether it was becoming too large. I was making the Slouchy (extra poofy) version of the beret, so it didn't seem too unusual until... the tactful Roberto blurts out 'Hey, is that a Rastafarian hat?' Idiot.



So I throw the hat down in disgust, give Rob a patented Heather-glare, and run off to bed, pissed at failure. Then the knitting Gods come to me in a dream... 'hey Heather, why not rip out only to the regular version of the pattern and then start your decreases?' Well, duh.


I've ripped back and have started my decreases as designated by the regular version. I should be done soon and hopefully before Christmas. I'm only spending precious time writing this blog entry because my fingers hurt from knitting. It'll be done soon and I can chalk up another finished project in ravelry and quiet the voices.. for now.

Now hush up woman!

Finished Objects all over the place

It's amazing what happened after I finished my final project for school this semester. I started finishing my knitting projects!


First came the cutest slippers ever.
Can you tell which pair is for a girl?













Next, I finally finished my pomatomus socks. I love them so much that I've already worn them twice. I'm really beginning to dislike wearing store-bought socks, but at this rate I'll wear them out before I can finish the next pair. Unless I stop sleeping....hmmm.....





Last week I got inspired to knit something for the two gift exchanges I have this week. (Inspired, broke, over-stashed, whatever you want to call it). I really really wanted to modify the patterns to use a thumb gusset, but I kept telling myself that it'd go faster and use less yarn if I just followed the pattern as written. It hurt. To get over the pain, I made an origami gift box to wrap Fetching. They're so pretty, but I can't keep them anyway because they're too small.

Those damned scarves

I started a new job today and my boss noticed the needles sticking out of my bag. We discussed it briefly and she hinted at a scarf. I didn't ask any details about what she was looking for, but I knew what it was. One of those fuzzy fluffy girly furry things. You know how it is - your non-knitting friends look right past the intricate cables on your sweater, never notice the painstaking lace on your hat, and shrugged non-committally at the gloves you made on size 0's. They want a fuzzy scarf. I admit it, I've made them, worn them, even liked them. But they're like the boys I dated for a week in college - it seemed like a good idea at the time but if I ran into them in public ever again I'd never admit we met.

I haven't even counted them. I know there's been dozens (scarves, not boys). No pictures, no records. I'm torn though. It'd be nice to get my ravelry project count up there but I can't do it. Here's my compromise - 3 of the scarves I've kept.

Quality over quantity (for boys and scarves).

Yet Another Hat

Another hat you say? Why yes, of course! I admit that I'm feeling some envy from Rob's latest gift and now feel the need to devote precious knitting energy to creating hats that might be just as good, if not better. This one is good, but not better, so I'll have to try again. Shucks. Darn.


Pattern is Fake Isle from MagKnits. The black wool I bought while Rob and I were in Argentina (the yarn might be from Peruvian wooled creatures, however), and I don't know much about it. The Noro is from SissyPrincess - her leftovers that she was happy to rid herself of. Nice girl, that one. =)

Post Turkey update

Oriel Lace
I finished knitting the second sleeve a couple weeks ago and blocked it last week. As I started to assemble the sweater, I still worried about it being too small, even though I’d added 2 inches to the length. I tried to pin it on myself but just couldn’t properly contort my arms to get it right so I got a friend to come over and help. The bodice is a bit snug, but I think that can be resolved by re-blocking since I did a half-assed job of blocking the front & back. The weird thing though is that the sleeves are too short. Too SHORT?!? I have freakishly short arms, this has never happened to me. And they aren't just a little short, more like 5 inches. They’re also a little tighter than I like so now I need to frog them about halfway. Ugh. Time for Oriel to hibernate for a while. At least I got the front & back reblocked before stashing it away.

Making Waves Bag
This one went fast because it was easy tv knitting. I finished knitting last week. It felted a bit unevenly – when it came out of the washer it didn’t have square corners. I wrestled, stretched, and beat on it to get it close to normal rectangle. I ended up blocking it flat. It looks great – I love the color even though the cables don’t show up as well as they did on the blue version for Jennifer. I’m considering felting it a little more and reblocking. The only problem with that is it means I have to not use it for a few days and I’m quite attached to carrying it right now.



Christmas Knitting
Yes, it’s that time of year again. I knit gifts for my nieces and nephew each Christmas. Even though they’re still quite young they are very opinionated so I decided to let them pick between mittens and slippers as well as what colors they wanted. On Thanksgiving I brought along the feltable portion of my stash. My nephew was too busy sledding on the hill out back to consult on colors (he’s such a boy), but paused long enough to say he wanted slippers. One niece wants mittens and the other wants slippers. Then the girls dove into the big bag of yarn with gusto. They spread out the skeins all over the floor and started picking out colors. After about ½ hour of debate they settled on all of them. Yes, they wanted all the colors. That’s what I get for asking a 3-year-old and a 4-year-old. The 3-year-old especially liked the Noro. I don’t know what I was thinking, putting the Noro in the bag, because I’m not willing to use it for anyone but me. She’ll remember it too. I talked to her on the phone yesterday and she reminded me. Hopefully she’ll like the slippers enough to forgive the omission. I started the first pair yesterday and finished one of the slippers. They have a purple sole, pink uppers, with a rainbow of colors in the cuff. They’re about at girly as a slipper can get!


Other stuff
I’m still moving along on the Pomatomus socks. I finished the heel gusset on the way to work this morning, so now I’m in the home stretch of the foot. If I pay close attention to the chart, I could finish these this week.

Last week I finished the second sleeve on the olive cardigan. Whew, 4 sleeves done in the last 2 months. No wonder I don’t want to deal with frogging the Oriel sleeves yet. I started the back on Friday, but only got about an inch done.

A Hat I'm Thankful For

I'm really really happy about this hat. It fits me perfectly, but oh yeah, I promised Rob that it's his. darn. =|



It looks good on him too - darn again. It hides his crazy hair anyway. He needs all the help he can get with his hair, and he seems to be cold most of the time - so a super warm hat that hides his colossal mangy mane is my gift to him.



I finished this over Thanksgiving - a reason to be thankful for sure. The pattern is Red Light Special using Knit Picks Telemark sport weight yarn (awesome stuff) and Misti International Alpaca Worsted for the lining - nice and soft for tender ears. I love that it's sport weight - really warm and thin, especially with the lining.



Oh, and I'm putting a "If found, please return to:" label in it this time.

I suppose I just might alter the pattern and make a similar one for myself.

Chomp Chomp

Meet my new traveling companions, Gilly & Dilly. They don't match a whole lot of what I wear but they don't care. Like me, all they want to do is eat and chomp on stuff. I had no idea how insanely cute these would turn out to be. DAMN.


Pattern is "Later Gator Mitts" from Stitch 'n Bitch Nation. Yarn is Knit Picks Wool of the Andes in Grass and Cranberry. I modified the pattern (somewhat accidentally), but they fit now. I bought the largest googley-eyes I could that could still be sewn, instead of glued, on.



I think I smiled through most of the project, especially when putting on the white doofers. Poor guys are missing a couple of them - but that's what they get for trying to snack on the kitty. Bad Gators. Yes, there was a kitty run-in this morning. Score: Mr. B, 1 - Gilly, 0 (actually -1 since Mr. B swiped a tooth).

Hee hee. I think I might get into more trouble when wearing these - it's almost as though they have a mind of their own. In fact, I can now blame most of my inappropriate behavior on them.

Chomp Chomp. You know you want a pair.

Lookie what I found on the doorstep

Ah yes. FINALLY. The Knit Picks yarn has arrived.

Mine for Rob's Hat:




And SissyPrincess' - probably for socks. again.

Fall Foliage

I love fall. It's my favorite season. So I obviously need a new hat to celebrate. Here's my finished no-foiled project from the Knitty's Foliage pattern. I used Cascade 220 Heathers (naturally, yes again!) in Color 9489 (red wine). I always thought I had a large-ish head, but after meeting some of my knitting friends (ahem), I have learned that it's large for the southern states, I guess. What I'm getting at is that I stopped short of the full pattern for my puny noggin.

This is a great pattern with just enough lace to keep it fun.

This is the image before I added extra ribbing. I thought it would look great as is, but I think it looks more flattering with a turned up rib. Yes, it looks good but I picked the best possible photo. Trust me, it looks better with a brim.

The best part is that I completed most of this within a lazy, sitting on my bohunkus in front of the tube, kind of day.

New yarn! and other random stuff

Last weekend I went to the fiber arts sale here. I expected it to be a bit larger. Most of the goods were finished objects - some very nice ones - but I was on the hunt for yarn. They had a few baskets of delicious hand-spun or hand-dyed yarn. The violet silk was scrumptious but out of my price range. There was a variegated wool in glorious fall colors that I pictured as a Sunrise Circle Jacket, but there wasn't quite enough.

I came home with some fingering weight pink mohair. The color is glorious but the yarn is a little scratchy. It's only single-ply which means it really isn't durable enough for socks. I tried not to buy it. Picked it up, put it down, picked it up, put it down. Somehow 2 hanks ended up in my basket.

Then buried under some cotton in colors too bright to contemplate I found beauty. It's hand-spun wool so soft that I was convinced it had silk in there. Then I smelled it. Some of you understand smelling yarn. This stuff is awesome. Initially I wasn't sold on the grey color, but there was no way I was going to let this stuff out of my grubby yarn-mitts. Now I love the grey. It has just enough warmth to still look decent on me as a hat or scarf or gloves or.... oh the possibilities!

Onto other topics. I got rid of the red superwash wool I've had in my stash (Thanks Irene!).
Somehow a couple weeks ago a skein of Trekking XXL in some lovely golds and greens migrated into the stash. I have reason to believe this happened to someone else too.

I love the harmony sock needles. Finally, needles sharp enough to make Pomatomus a joy. I cast on the 2nd sock and got through one repeat before returning to other things.

Last night I finished the 2nd sleeve on the Oriel Lace. That's right. Now all I have to do is block that, reblock the other 3 pieces, assemble, knit the collar, and weave in the ends. Why does it still seem like finishing this is so far away?

The real distraction has been Ravelry. I got my invitation last week and I'm obsessed. Addicted. Gripped. Fanatical. Help!

My Noro Glow

Forget pregnancy or a good facial, it's Noro that gives me that special glow. Isn't it beautiful?

And look what it does!


It's the Basic Everyday Purse with Flap from Felted Knits with Noro's Big Kureyon 100% wool in color 20. I made it for Mom. She wanted something 'neutral' and I couldn't stand to make yet another gray bag. Thank you Noro for making it easy!



The before felting view.

Funny - The bag only used one ball... hmmm.. another ball is left. Oh my. A bag for me?

slippers and the henley

depressing slippers (with cat for added interest)











Not depressing at all finished henley

New stuff

I'm still at work, but rumor has it that there's a package waiting for me at home.
Yarn! Needles! It's always exciting, even when much of the order belongs to various other people (I won't name names). Now the real problem is that I have a major project and a paper due for class on Friday. They aren't done. I want to go home and play with my new stuff, but that would mean losing sleep or missing work in order to get my homework done.

Maybe I'm coming down with something. Think my boss will mind if I stay home with yarn fever?

Avoidance post

OK, I haven't posted in a while because I'm so disappointed in the slippers. Sissy princess finally twisted my arm into telling the tale. Here is what they looked like before felting.

I don't have a picture of what they looked like afterwards. I didn't want to take a picture of something so bass ackwards.

I can tell you they're wrong, all wrong. And she said they smelled funky while she was felting them to boot. Yuck. While hand felting is a possibility, I think the most likely scenario is the circular file. :(

On a far happier note (and the likely reason I was able to admit failure on the slippers) I have finished the henley... and it is wonderful. Sissy Princess tried to burst my bubble by pointing out that it looks like it has already started pilling but I couldn't hear her very well over the soft yumminess of this sweater. I'll have a picture later when I get home to the camera.

Felted and Furless

My cousin Alisa was out to visit with her husband last month. She was eyeballing my felted bag and finally (and sheepishly) admitted to wanting one in either dark red or green. I may add a crocheted or felted flower to the side but am unsure yet. What do you think?


Ok here it is with a felted daisy (to cover magnetic snap). Both PP and Rob voted an enthusiastic YES for a flower.

The pattern is Hello Yarn - Fulled Lopi Tote. I didn't use Lopi, but a double strand of Plymouth Yarn's Galway Highland Heather (naturally), worsted weight, 100% wool in color # 710. I used this soft, almost acrylic-like yarn instead of a wool blended with mohair or other furry fiber because Alisa lives in hot and humid Florida. I thought she would appreciate the smoothness of the felt. I would have used Cascade 220 for the same reason but my LYS doesn't carry it (I didn't go to Shuttles).


The width is actually the same before felting as the finished product. The length has shortened by a few inches.



Look how much yarn is left over. I love it when that happens.

Another sleeve done

I was inspired to work on the oriel lace blouse again when I saw this.
Previously I worried about the fact that I was making this with only 1/2" of ease. After seeing these pictures I'm glad I made that decision.

I didn't realize I was so close to finishing a sleeve. It seems odd to me that the sleeve cap measures only 4.5" high while the armsceye is something like 7 or 8". I decided to just follow the pattern and quit questioning it so much, so the first sleeve is blocking now. The lace is so beautiful when it's blocked!


I also did a little spinning this weekend. I think I have, in total, about 20 yards of yarn now.

All is Forgiven

After frogging part of the sleeve Tuesday, I sat down Wednesday and finished it for good. I even blocked it (I know you're proud). It's lovely, beautiful, yummy, and I love it. Problems? What problems. I love knitting sleeves. This morning I cast on another one.

This pattern is an interesting level of difficulty. It's not so easy (like stockinette) that I can completely zone out, but not so detailed (like lace) that I have to pay close attention. There are alternating strips of stockinette and garter with an interesting carried / picked up stitch. The right side is easy enough, but the wrong side lacks the usual visual or tactile clues about when to change from knit to purl. It makes for an exercise in mindfulness: can I pay just enough attention to get it right across the entire row? Sometimes yes, usually no. This brought to mind a book that interests me but I haven't gotten around to reading. Mindful Knitting. Has anyone read this? If so, what do you think?

Remember spinning? That whole "every day" thing went right out the window when I caught a cold. I tried again yesterday and it's still challenging. And as if it weren't hard enough, I have a cat alternately stalking the spindle and pawing my roving. I hate locking them up, but I think that's what it come to. At least until I'm good enough at this to want the challenge of making the spindle dodge the cats.

Sleeve Hell

I love sweaters, but somehow sleeves are my bane. I thought it was because I knit them last. The way the rows get longer the farther I go is bad enough, but I have to do it twice. On the Oriel Lace Blouse I lost momentum as soon as I started the sleeves. It's still sitting there; back, front, and 1/2 sleeve. This isn't the first time either. It happens every time. So when I started a new sweater I decided I'm going to make the sleeves first.

I still hate them.

The first one has crept along. I finally got to the armhole decreases (yes!) and everything went much faster. I was only a couple of rows from being done and couldn't deny the problem any longer. Somehow my decreases happened way too quickly. As I frogged I watched for where I'd done the decreases, trying to determine what what wrong.

In spite of my finance degree and my enjoyment of math and numbers, I CAN'T COUNT. That is the only conclusion I can reach from the apparently random decreases I did for this sleeve.

1 sleeve, 3 weeks and counting.

Dammit.

Fingerless & Fabulous

Wow - I actually made something ahead of time, or just in time.. for fall! They're so nice... and pretty. Yes, I finished #2 of 2. I only had one hand completed last month.

I learned a few things: do not deviate from the pattern unless you KNOW you're actually smarter, or if experience proves that there's an actual error. I shifted the thumb on one of the hands and therefore skewed the beauty of the k4 p1 rib.



Whatever. They're mine.

See previous post for pattern details.

One sock counts, right?

I finally finished something!

It took forever because apparently I can't follow a chart for more than one row at a time.

This counts as a finished project. It's only one sock, but I don't have the other on needles yet so it doesn't exist. Poof!


I took a drop spindle spinning class last night and here is the yarn from my own little spindle. It's pitiful and I love it. I learned some important lessons.

1. Don't let the spindle untwist - the wool breaks and the spindle drops to the floor and rolls under the nearest chair.

2. Always predraft your roving.

3. Practice for 15 minutes every day.

4. Buy pretty fiber. Must have more fiber.

I really wish the camera could have captured how beautiful the colors are. It's a deep violet with a mustardy-yellow running through it.

I'm worried that as I spin, the colors will combine into a brownish grey. I suppose they should still be identifiable colors, but since my color experience is mostly with paints I just don't know what will happen with fibers.





Irene recently went to Victoria. She visited the Beehive Wool Shop. They've been there for 101 years. That's amazing!





She brought back yarn for me:


Fleece Artist merino & sea cell sock yarn.

That's right. More socks!

I know it's hard to see the colors, but they're lavenders and greens. Lovely stuff.

Thanks Irene! I needed more yarn.

Really. Seriously. I don't have enough yarn.