Swatch.

Instead of working on my felted bag today, like a good soldier, I played. I have been kicking around some cabling ideas in my head and wanted to see how they actually worked out, so I swatched instead of grinding out more stockinette. I was just some cheapie acrylic that split and fuzzed the entire time, but I learned some stuff, and that's what counts. I also practiced cabling without a cable needle like a fiend and no longer hate it.

Recant.

Remember when I posted about All About Yarn? Well I do. And since then I have been thinking I should give them another chance. Especially after reading this.

The premise behind the store is a good one. And yes, they need to not be snippy at each other in the store in front of customers because it might be the customer's first time in the store, like it was mine, and said customer might be really turned off by that, as I was. But... I was a grumpy bitch that day and felt like it was time to give it another shot.

Eunny just knitted up Shedir. This is a pattern I have loved for ages, and as you can see it is on my list, but I don't see getting around to it any time very soon. But Eunny used Rowan Felted Tweed instead of Calmer, and it's lovely. Much more my style than if I were to use Calmer. I like textures and Felted Tweed certainly gives that. But I digress.

I also needed some US 6 circs for the upcoming Mystery Shawl 3 KAL that I have decided to participate in. I am using the yarn I ordered for MS2. Hooray for the stash bust.

OK, so... I needed stuff. I went to All About Yarn again. For the second time. I didn't hate it. I didn't get any ookie feelings this go 'round. Everything was great. The lady ( I didn't get her name) was very helpful, and while they didn't have the Rowan Cashsoft DK I was wanting, and they (still) don't carry Brown Sheep, it was an overall pleasant experience. I have now upgraded them to be a store I would shop at regularly. Except I seem to mostly to random yarn shop on Tuesdays and that is when they are closed.

But OMG! There was some lovely beautiful fabulous lace yarn there called Whispers and I can just see so many pretty lacy things made with it. I almost bought several skiens. I mean.... MS3 after all, or Eunny's Print o' the Wave stole, or... I don't know.... ANYTHING in that beautiful, variegated, lovely yarn. *drool*

I managed to get out of there with only the addi Naturas and the one ball of Felted Tweed. Go me.

cable design

Ok I have given on up figuring out the "Wash's Aran" central cable motif. I just can't get it to do right. Also, the wardrobe lady from Firefly/Serenity answered my email and said it was a sweater from Fox's general wardrobe and perhaps from the original Aliens movie. Ok, that move is 20 years old at this point, and I just don't see tracking down the person who designed/made/procured that sweater at this point. So.... Warcraft has lots of Celtic motifs and designs in it's artwork. I screenied a pic of this one. Shmoo has approved it to be his central motif when I get around to making him an aran.

X's and O's.

I love Ikea. They have the niftiest things. Like these silicon mold ice trays. Shmoo thought they were perfect for Jack and Cokes. I thought they were perfect for little Valentine's Day guest soaps. Hugs, Kisses, and Hearts! Whee! Perhaps I'll get around to making a small batch of them to see how they do. They do make charming ice cubes however.


I started the Felted Bag. And I am still in love with Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride. It has to be my favorite yarn. I am adding bits of the CC color trim here and there, despite swooning over the original look of the bag. Perhaps I am dooming myself to not LOVE this bag once it is made because of these decorative changes, but... I can't help myself. I feel like I need to have some color piping on the edges. If I don't like it, at least I'll have someone's Christmas Gift done, and an excuse to make myself another one, right? RIGHT??????

Halfway.

I finished up the first of the Geisha socks today. I have not yet mastered taking decent pictures of my feet so I fear you must all suffer with me.

The sock is very comfy. And it fits well with this particular pair of flip flops. It's a little too loose for my other pair. I look forward to having a pair of them. I am using the KnitPicks Dancing yarn in Rumba colorway. At least I think it's the Rumba colorway. I like the yarn a lot. It's elasticy. It's been interesting to knit with the final product is very giving and comfy. I don't however really like the colorway. It sucks. I don't like any of the colorways in this yarn. This leads me to believe I won't use it again until they come out with more. Perhaps a solid? A solid would be really nice.

Now I'll cast on for that second Jaywalker and work towards getting it done, so I can do the second of this pair. Or perhaps I'll leave the socks on hold and do that felted bag I really want.....

Bri was happier when shmoo cooked.

I have a new battle. Each night is a skirmish. Every night, when I cook, the cat follows me into the kitchen, harasses me while I cook, and then as I get ready to plate it up and for us to eat, he's lying on the table. My constant weapons of squirt bottles sometimes feel useless. They work for running him off, but he keeps coming back. He gets chased off the table, then he pesters shmoo a while and tries to steal off of his plate. Then he gets sprayed. Then he comes over to me and pops his head up and sniffs at my plate and gets sprayed. And then he jumps up on the other side of the table and I yell at him and cuss him and spray him so much he's soaking, and then he gets down. Repeat, Ad Nauseum.

Tonight shmoo said, "He was happier when I cooked." It's true. The cat wasn't tormented with smells of home-cooked goodness. He just sniffed at the Subway Veggie Maxes and Frozen Pizzas and moved on. Sometimes he would beg a bit and shmoo would throw him a little piece of whatever it was, but then he would lose interest. This is no longer the case.

I cannot decide whether to feel flattered or irritated that the cat loves my cooking so much.

Warcraft Washcloth

Some people always have socks on the go and they aren't counted as a part of their ongoing projects. I do that with Washcloths. As previously mentioned, I knit during down times in game. But sometimes, I get to a point where I will screw up whatever it is I am working on if I don't pay close attention so I just start a garter stitch washcloth. They are useful, easy to knit regardless of what I may be doing, and quite a luxury to use if you find a good yarn.


Here is the latest one, done in cotton stash yarn, and ends not yet woven in.

Critters in the Closet.

Soap Gremlins. Bad Knitting Fairies? What is going on lately? Perhaps it is just the winter blahs.

I made a nice salt soap about two weeks ago that I never blogged about because it didn't turn out pretty. In fact, the bars are quite funny shaped and thus I am unhappy with them. It smells nice and soft. It has lovely additives. I like the way it lathers. It's just not pretty. I wanted this to be nice pretty bars for when I re-open my site. I wanted nice pretty bars for having on hand to give to my friends. Just because. Instead I have ugly bars of soap that it will take forever to use up. I have to apologize to the people to whom I give these bars. "I'm sorry it's ugly but it's still good soap, I promise!" I admit I hadn't made soap in a couple of months and this was the first time I had used this stove and oven, but it should have been fine. Instead the Soap Gremlins came to visit for the first soap in our apartment, and the soap is ugly.

As you can see, the older, nicer shaped bar, is on the left and the BEST of the ugly shaped bars is on the right. It only goes downhill shape-wise from there.

As for the Bad Knitting Fairies... Well, I am just not THRILLED with any of my projects. I like them, don't get me wrong. When they are finished I will LOVE them and be oh so happy to wear/gift/whatever-I-had-planned- for them. But I really just don't want to do them. Instead I scour the 'net for Ideas and Patterns for things I would like to make. They get added to my ever-growing future project list. I drool for hours over yarns I refuse to buy because I don't want to add to my stash. I keep telling myself the goal is to knit the yarn, not store it. And yet, I still manage to sneak in a little more now and then, which is it's own vicious cycle of guilt.

Finally, I decided I wanted to get some brown slidey shoes for the winter. Then I decided on Birks. Then I found a picture of a pair of Tatami Mongolia. Then I found out they appear to be discontinued. And then I went and looked on eBay and saw three pairs that are too small and a pair that would have fit, and had a great price that sold 2 weeks ago. *Sigh.*

Then I trundled along and found some Ugg Hamptons I like. But they are Uggs. Which generally makes me say.. UHGG!. They are nice slide-on shoes with the sheepskin lining, which makes me think of lovely cozy toes. But they are more than I want to spend on shoes. The REI site says they are reduced however, so maybe I can get lucky at the local store.

Maybe.

I still really want those damn Mongolias.

Hrmph.

There is a little shopping center down the road that is really hard to get in and out of. It has several ethnic grocery stores and restaurants. Tonight we tried the Mexican/Salvadoran place on the recommendation of a SnB friend. It. Was. Fabulous!

Sadly however, as we went to leave, we noticed that the Indian place that we thought was so good is now a Vietnamese place. I am ok with Vietnamese cuisine. I am just sad that the really close, really really good Indian place is gone. At least we have another place fairly local that we like as well.

Also, it seems like Daisy gets more screen time than Bri does, but he's so dark his pics hardly ever turn out nice. I managed to snag a good one the other day. Can you say relaxed? 'Cause he sure can.

Books, Books, Books.

While at shmoocon, I picked up two geeky books. I always like to find good web references, and the BSD book was perfect because I am going to switch from using Debian to BSD on my server, because that's what shmoo uses and if I get in a jam he can help me out. This book is supposed to teach me how to use BSD in a structured way, as opposed to the haphazard way I have learned Debian.
These are the books I received today from my Amazon order. Two, yes TWO, knitting books.


I hope to make shmoo beautiful sweaters he will want to wear one day. I also want to make sweaters that not only fit but flatter my figure. I must admit however, I would settle for fit.

I picked up these Audio Books at the Library, in order to help with the knitting moving right along. I have to have something to help occupy my mind when I knit, so hopefully this will do it.

I also found these two gems at the library as well. I don't really care about Fair Isle that much. I don't plan on doing it for many years to come. But I felt I needed to see what all the fuss was about. Had it been the Aran book I would have been far more pleased. I still really want to duplicate Wash's Aran for shmoo. I emailed the costume designer from the show, but I haven't gotten a response so it looks like I am on my own.

I also cast on for the Geisha socks while at shmoocon so I worked on them a bit yesterday. I read that Cara starts a sock for the next pair before doing the second sock on her current pair. That seemed like a good idea. I am not bored with the Jaywalkers after all, and I plan to finish them, but I just felt like doing something a little different for a bit as far as socks go. So much for the resolution of only 4 WIPS at a time. Didn't even last a month.

I also went to JoAnn's today. They are having a hella clearance sale. I got the Scottie Dog tape measure for a buck! I couldn't' resist. I keep losing them so it seems a sound investment. And the big bundle of glittery needles? Why, I am so glad you asked! $7.99. That's it. Yes they are plastic and have glitter but.... $7.99! US sizes 10, 10.5, 11, 13, 15, and 17. I also picked up the sock sets of needles from Susan Bates. Not on sale however. It seems dpn's are getting harder and harder to find in chain craft stores so I wanted to snatch up that sock set before it disappeared!

Ok, so maybe I just needed an excuse to shop at the craft store.

Freshman's Cozy.

Around about a year ago, I made a nalgene cozy. Only it wasn't a nalgene, it was a Target Eddie Bauer one. But you get the idea. It looks like this:



While at shmoocon, shmoo was traipsing around with it, (No, it didn't have Absolut Mandarin and Dole Pineapple Orange Juice in it. Really it didn't. It was... just plain orange juice. Yeah... that's the ticket.) and another of the shmoon liked it and requested one of me. But without the handle, the shells, and without the girly colors. Freshman is a cute fella and shmoo likes him, so I said ok. Furthermore, it just so happened that I had packed some 100% cotton with me from the stash so I could perhaps make a washcloth if I got bored with the sock knitting. And I was even fortunate enough to have a proper sized crochet hook in my little case of supplies. Freshman was a lucky man. I asked if the yarn was ok and got started. I should have been done with this yesterday, but we were hungover and trying to get sick, so alas, I now have to mail it to him as opposed to just throwing it at him in person.

I present, Freshman's Cozy in 100% Hand-Dyed cotton from Mystical Creations I think. I got it off of eBay. I used a size G hook and it's just double crochet with a single crochet band at the top to finish it off. No pattern or anything. It's just a tube of the appropriate size.

AFK.

/away shmoocon.

Wash's Aran.

For any Firefly fans out there: I want to make Wash's Aran. Shmoo LOVES the sweater and says he would certainly wear it.

There is a thread about it on live journal here And in that thread it has some links to pics of the Aran and then further down some nice person made screenies and stuck them on their flickr account to share and you can see the details even better. I cannot for the life of me figure out what the center motif is. Even if I could I don't know that I have the necessary skill to design that Aran, but damn I'd sure try if needed. I am hoping there are other more experienced knitting firefly fans out there who will sort it out soon to be honest. Then I can just use their pattern! :)

If you have any idea what the central motif is, please let me know. Thanks!

Bobby Socks: First FO of 2006.

Bobby Socks
Pattern: None.
Yarn: KnitPicks, WOTA, Chambray
Yardage: No idea. About half a rewound ball from where I frogged the Craftster Shrug.
Needles: US size 6, Lion Brand Double Pointed Needles (plastic, but nice)
Gauge: 6 sts per inch, 8 rows st st.

These are the socks that were requested in "Batman" by a certain little man. He was very specific in what he wanted. Only an inch at the cuff. No higher. Not more than one color. Not Black or Dark Blue or Yellow, but.. "Batman!" which as it turns out is light blue for him.... I think.
KathyB left a kickass pic of some actual Batman colored socks in her comment and thus I bring it to your attention. I have not yet tried "the intarsia" but when I do, I am sure that actual Batman socks will be in the works. In the mean time, I am happy with these.

These were a fairly quick knit. They were small and I didn't do them in teensy yarn or needles. I had piddled around with one last week a bit but finally finished up the toe of it last night while waiting on Warcraft and then did the entire second sock this morning. Why the rush? Well, I should be seeing a certain little man this week, possibly as early as tomorrow, and I didn't want to disappoint him. It's true the socks themselves might disappoint, and he's honest enough to tell me straight up, but he's 4, and that is the beauty of kids.

Also, thanks to Jessica at FigandPlum I learned that my camera had a macro function and I played with it some. Here's a detail shot of the Clap that is STILL in progress. I seem to have hit the wall with this one. I am tired of it. But I shall persevere. I am sure I'll get a lot of knitting done at Shmoocon this weekend, as most of it is over my head, so I'll try to grind out several inches on the Clapotis or start on my other Jaywalker so that the one sock doesn't remain so alone.

Slow, and not quite steady.

Progress on the Clap. I am about 5 repeats in on the straight part. I couldn't manage to get a picture without the dog. She seems to be rather interested in the knitting today. Perhaps I can finish this within the next two weeks, but I am feeling doubtful. I would like to have a nice sized, finished, project before the end of January however, so I will keep plugging away.

Picture Heavy. (and Rambling!)

So I have a few comments and a lot of pictures. Let's Begin.

1. Regarding the Clap.
I have been slowly plugging away at my Clap. I have decided that it would possibly be a good Mother's Day gift for our respective Mom's as well. (I KNOW that Shmom reads the blog, so Shmom, when you aren't surprised at what you get, I don't want to know. Just pretend ok? Also, My mother *MIGHT* read the blog, randomly, so mom, you act surprised too ok?) My mother is allergic to ALL wool so hers will have to be in something else. There was a nice post on craftster where someone did it in TLC Amore, Lagoon colorway. I loved it. I think my mother would love that as well. She likes texture, and she'll like something that won't itch her to death. As for Shmom, well... there is an Amore colorway in purples, and shmoo says she likes purples and pinks. But the purples are dark and mostly muted. I have decided to use my cotton I got from eBay that is pink and purple and yellow for hers. I know it won't be as warm, but it sure will wash a lot easier.

And here is a current pic of my clap in progress:

I have about.... (exactly) 12 more rows before I stop doing the increases. I considered making it wider but decided that the first time thru I would do it as the pattern said. And yeah, I am a knotter, as you can tell from the pic. Sue me. I'm going to crochet a single crochet border around the entire thing to cover up all my numerous ends once I get it done and blocked out some.

2. Library books, and their patterns.

So Tuesday, I had to return the yarn for the IK Ballet Wrap Cardigan as it turned out to be two different browns. On the way there, I went by my local library and got a card. They have a decent knitting section. I picked up these three books.

The Family Circle Sweater book had a sweater in it I KNEW shmoo would like. And at least one I would like to use as a basis for sweaters for myself in the future. There were a few others that were ok, but not necessarily for my body type.

The sweater that shmoo did indeed like.

The basic sweater that I liked. Plz to ignore the black area as that is where the flash hit on the book and was too bright to fix, kthx.

And then in Hip to Knit, there was a V neck I thought shmoo might like but I kinda didn't like, and no, he really didn't LIKE it, so I am not going to even think of making it. No pic of it. However, there was a cute girl's hoodie. Despite the chick's funny expression I like it. I don't know that I will make it, but I might.

Once again a bit of detail lost due to the flash, but you get the general idea.

And then in the last book, Simple Knits, there was a felted bag, and I fell in love. IN LOVE!

As much as I like the one in the aqua color, I couldn't find the perfect aqua to do it in, so I went with something else.

Yes, that's right, you guessed it! Warm dark dark brown and violet. The violet will be the trim. To me this will make the bag be more of an everyday bag because it's a neutral color, and then the handle/trim will add the color pop to it to make it interesting. This will be my next project. I want to finish up the clap, the jaywalkers, and the jayarmwarmers first of course, but once I do, look out, I am gonna felt me some magic baby!

I mean, I had to return that brown yarn anyway right? And I only get store credit, I figured I might as well go ahead and line up my next big project. :)

3. Oh my God you didn't!!

Why yes, yes I did buy that little kids Sew Easy Knitting Machine and play with it. And I'll do it again too! It's actually kinda neat. It knits way faster than I do, however it doesn't go back to fix it's mistakes. It also came with fun fur. Ew. I have something in mind for the fun fur, so that's ok, but.. ew.

4. The dog. (skip this if you don't like little yap dogs)

Often I knit at my computer desk(sometimes while playing Warcraft). And often, I knit in the bed while I watch a movie and/or shmoo plays Warcraft. Sometimes I knit at my desk while we are both playing Warcraft. May as well make use of the down time in game right?

Regardless, Daisy often clambers up onto the bed with me when I am knitting up there. I snapped a few shots of it the other day.

And lest you think, "Awwwww, it's so cute and precious and lovable!!!" Let me just show you THIS before you swoon.

See that arrow? See the circle it points to? It's a dog bone. One of the ones Shmom sent her for Christmas. In my bed. She isn't sleeping peacefully or being cute. She's guarding that bone. Don't let the cute "oh rub my belly" appeal get to you. The dog is serious about her bone. If in doubt, ask the cat. :)