Yesterday was fairly pleasant. I finished the last jane and the blah book. I quite liked it even though I was sad that well lord harold was missing. I heard from the husband which always makes a day better. I also cooked a decent meal. Lately all I’ve felt like making was grilled chicken for salads. But yesterday I sauteed the chicken in this roasted red pepper stuff I got at trader joes, made couscous and broccoli. The couscous was good but really wanted some sort of flavor more than just chicken stock. Best of all there is more than enough for lunch or dinner today. I then had the horror of the what the hell do I knit now. Its awful, clearly it means I need to have multiple projects going at once. Fortunately it didn’t take me as long to find something as it did last time. I just hope I don’t run out of yarn for this hat. Its for my cousin and I’m making it in the leftover yarn I have for my sweater. Today is my simulated blackhawk ride so I am very much looking forward to that. I really need to get off my lazy ass and finish my other site. I have a rant brewing and it needs to come forth in all its glory;)
Month: June 2006
Yeah so I frogged
The great jaywalker experiment came to a close. I realized I had made one too many mistakes for my perfectionist self and well better to frog then continue to put work into something I would be unhappy with. So I spent a few hours looking for inspiration on lj and the web. Nada. I also looked through the stash. That wasn’t really helpful either. All it did was make me feel like I HAVE NO YARN. Totally untrue I mean I have a stash its even a decently sized stash but nothing was calling to me. So in the end I decided to work on the hat for the cousin in the left over wick. Not particularly exciting and I’m planning on starting something a little less mind numbing this morning too. Maybe two somethings even. It is a horrible feeling when you realize you don’t have anything on the needles. Like I just get this restless twitchy feeling where I want to go yarn shopping that INSTANT to make up for the perceived lack of yarn. In my case that’s not a good thing since umm well I’m trying to not buy yarn. I’ve been very good too. I did buy a bunch of sock yarn from the coop but that was paypal money which doesn’t count. I have more coming in too. But I’m feeling a pull to buy some books. So I will in the end have to decide what I want more. I know one thing that’s getting bought is the new knit picks set. That’s a definite order. but we’ll have to see about anything else.
Ok so I frogged…
Well much as I love jaywalkers I frogged them for the third time. I made one too many mistakes and in that pattern it will show so I decide much like murtha that I should “redeploy”. So now I officially have NOTHING on the needles. Only knitting I have is weaving in the ends on the sweater which I’ll try and tackle tonight since I know sleep isn’t happening any time soon. I fell asleep this afternoon for about 5 hours. I guess I’d better find a new project. I was glancing at the stash and I realized I don’t actually have that huge of one. I mean yeah ok its large but I don’t have that much of any one thing. I have enough for 3 sweaters. A bunch of sock yarn and a bunch of stuff for smaller projects but it doesn’t feel like enough. Sadly I’m not buying yarn these days.
Sophie Bag
Pattern: Sophie
Yarn: Cascade 220 (exact shade unknown since the ball band was lost)
Needle: 10.5 Denise
Pattern Notes: Quick and easy pattern. A bit small perhaps but it has nice shaping and the twisted straps are a nice detail. Felted bags really are the best first project.
Pics:
Pre-felting:
Post Felting:
Well that was quick
I kind of like one day projects. I finished the sophie bag tonight. Ok technically it wasn’t one day but I felt too awful with the girl plague last night to do anything with it so I’m saying it was about a day and a half tops. Even so I am convinced it was indeed about a days worth of knitting. It’s in the wash felting as we speak. I guess today will be a day of zen like finishing with tivo and Jaywalkers. I really should try again with the hat too. I’m thinking that with the right size needles maybe the hat will go better. God I hope so otherwise that lovely alpaca is turning into a felted bag. Even then who the hell would I give it to. My mom is over her blue period. There isn’t enough to make a man bag so that’s the plan, finishing, experimenting and socks.
I wish I’d stood in bed
Today was just a disaster. I’m not going into details but it was just one of those days. Went to run an errand and utter craptastic adventures ensued. Then I came home to more fun. And bleh. A high note was finishing my grandmothers birthday gift, now I just need to felt it. I did enjoy listening to a new audio book while I was knitting. Far Far better than the tv. Mostly since I didn’t have to constantly hit fast forward to avoid commercials. Anyway… I am going to update my reading list and make a knitting update and then crash.
And now on to other things…
So I actually started the socks a while ago kind of. I mean I did the ribbing and ripped it out err twice I think. Plus I was sort of all consumed with the sweater. As previously stated I also do other things when I could be knitting..I know I’m a heretic. Anyway I love the jaywalkers pattern. Easy to memorize and yet fun since I always want to see how the next row is going. I had to stop though since I cut up my finger pretty badly on monday while slicing a bagel and size one addis and a bloody thumb just were not a good idea. It’s healed enough now that I can resume though. I’m using mountain colors in the yellowstone colorway. Anyway…
I also started a wee little sophie bag for grandma last night. I should finish it today or tomorrow. I have a bit of time but I want to make sure its nice since its her 85th birthday and there is going to be a big family party. Yee that picture really is a crime against photography but the color is pretty close if a bit bright. I’m using cascade 220.
I also started trying to work on my cousins hat cause you know June is certainly the time when we need alpaca hats. They are so nicely you know cooling. But alas it was not to be. I’m going to play around with different needles and/or double stranding to see if that makes it better but it was sort of too limp. Maybe some ribs too. I mean I know alpaca is more limp than wool but it was very very very limp so I might need to find a different yarn. I was seduced by the manly yet varigated shades of the yarn. I really hope it works out one way or another since I have zero use for it otherwise.
I think I’m supposed to feel like an adult now
So our bedroom is done. Well ok it needs some art but all the furniture is put together. It looks as good as I knew it would however, I don’t think I’ve had a bedroom with matching furniture since I was in the 7th grade. It also doesn’t really feel like *my* bedroom yet. I mean I have a whole house so the bedroom gets used for you know sleep. So behold the glory of craftsmanesque design!
I also switched out the slipcover on the couch. I love the fabric but hate the color. Well no I quite like the color except it makes the walls look way too blue. It does look fantastic with the rug though. It was sort of an accident I got the green since I had also bid on the cranberry, but since it was fleabay I had no choice about buying it when I won the auction so… I’ll put on the cranberry as soon as I feel like moving the couch and doing the hour long slipcover dance.
The best news of all though is I finished my sweater!
Lots of catching up has been going on so its not particularly exciting to read about besides since this is just a daily ramble I’d rather not confuse it by writing about other matters.
Has the candidate successfully knitted a sweater?
…CHECK.
Ok Technically I have not actually woven in all the ends yet but it is done and I could wear it as is. I actually finished on sunday so…I am going to do it in a zen like state when I get caught up on my tivo this weekend. It actually fits fairly nicely and I won’t be ashamed to wear it outside and in public. Once I take a shower today and slap on some paste makeup I’ll post a picture of it on me but until then Behold the glory of the sweater!
Yarn: K1C2 Wick in Avocado 10-11 balls (approx 1200-1320 yrds) bought at yarnmarket.com I liked the yarn a lot. The only thing I noticed was it was easily snagged do the the cable construction of the weird fiber. However its soft and has a nice spring to it. I’d use it again.
Needles: Denise size 7′s
Pattern: I used knit and tonics essential stripe pattern. As you can see mine lacks stripes;) I did make some modifications based on the fact that my row gauge was wildly off. I also knit rather tightly so…no real shocker I used that much yarn. Anyway the modifications included readjusting the math on the v neck to account for my gauge. I also made it much deeper to show off the sisters;) I quite liked the pattern, if I were to knit it again I think I’d add some more shaping to the waist and possibly some short rows for the girls but it looks pretty good as is and it is my first sweater so I’m pleased.
When it rains it hails
The past week was pretty awful. Sunday I woke up to find out that my Aunt was in the hospital and it was a question of when not if. So I knew I’d be traveling to STL this week. I wasn’t very close to her and she pretty much disappeared from my life after her divorce from my uncle. However one thing about her stands out to me and always will. When my mom was in the hospital after her heart attacks she came to visit and she was so extraordinarily kind. Also since was a cardiac care nurse she explained a lot to me about what was going on. My dad did that too but he was away and I wasn’t always as good about remembering what I was told so he could translate it into human for me. Maybe it sounds like a small thing but it always stood out and I was so grateful to her for it. The funeral mass was beautiful. It was incredibly sad though. So anyway I drove up Friday and left Saturday night. It was a quick trip but I didn’t want to have to bring the cats with me. Can I just say how much more pleasant the drive was without them? Going back further in time… Tuesday we had a FRG potluck. I brought my pasta salad. People said they really liked and wanted the recipe. I hate when people ask me that since I almost never follow recipes but I’ll do my best. Its more an idea than a recipe. You can pretty much add anything from a list and it will taste good. But anyway while this was going I was walking back from the bathroom and I was wearing these new sandal things since I needed a new summer throw on shoe. Anyway I stepped wrongly and down I freaking went. My foot has been funky ever since. So quite a bit of things I had slated to do last week did not in fact occur. Which is why I don’t have pictures of the new bedroom stuff up yet. Anyway…it’s feeling mostly better now so I think one more day of rest should do it and as long as I am careful…In slightly better news being laid up let me finally finish my first sleeve:) Sleeve #2 is going well. I have HIGH expectations of finishing it this week. Of course I said that last week and the week before too. One thing I noticed was I got a lot more done when I didn’t have to jump through commercials so maybe the key is just to only watch things on dvd?