Reason Number 5,438 I Love My Husband

This morning, as I'm putting our new wool blanket on our bed, Tom walks up, lifts his shirt, rubs the wool on his belly, and says with a big grin, "Hairshirt."

* * * (I tried to think up a segue from hairshirt to bat shawl, but I got nothin'.)

The Bat Shawl is disappointing me. I've ripped back to row 7, reknit to row 15 (which is still effed up even though the designer and another Raveler redid the border instructions and they're supposedly fixed), and last night realized I'm gonna run out of yarn. By not just the extra 100 yards I gave myself as wiggle room, but by a lot. Merde. Unless any of you have some extra Elann Baby Silk in color 500 Deepest Black Lot # 61 just lying around that you'd like to overnight me, it looks like I won't be wearing it for Halloween. If ya do, let's talk!

Ah, well, as a balm to soothe that pain, here's some spooky yarn upon which to feast our eyes. I've been selling off some of my stash on Ravelry, had a PayPal balance for a minute, and decided to use some of it to buy some BMFA Laci in Thraven. First it was destined for Irtfa'a, but now I'm thinking Cleite.

Next is the Malabrigo in autumnal shades I bought with a Webs gift certificate Tom gave me last Christmas. (Can you believe I held onto it for 10 months? Me neither.)

From bottom clockwise: Olive, Burgundy, Lettuce, Glazed Carrot, Black, Vaa, and Sunset (in the middle)

Next is the first installment of Lotus Yarns' Big Ass Yarn Club. 540 yards of worsted superwash merino in colorway Bliss. Awesome yardage! And the color reminds me a lot of...

...the next and final yarn, Yarn Pirate's BFL DK in Monster Mash. Spooktacular!

Now I'm off to practice my cackle. Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

* * *

On the turntable: Various ~ Halloween Hootenanny

Happy Whatever the Hell Day It Is

Has it really been two months since I last posted? Two months? Hell's bells. I, like everyone else, realize a lot of my online time has shifted to Ravelry, but whoa. I feel like David Bowie when he said he didn't remember 1970.

What have I been up to? Uh, I know I've done some stuff. My knitting has consisted of, well, good knits gone bad. First I was knitting on my Knitting Pure and Simple cardigan. It's currently in time out. I finished the body, only to realize the bottom edge looks like crap.



I need to rip out that 1 inch of seed stitch, go down a needle size, and hopefully the ugly ripples will disappear and the cast off will be cleaner. (I like how the Cotton Fleece is knitting up, but I kinda miss wool's forgiving nature on this one.)

After I wadded up the sweater, shoved it into a bag and hid it in a corner, I worked feverishly on my Bat Shawl. Finished the body, started the border. Realized the border pattern numbers were off, and tried a half-assed fix. Which didn't work. I'm currently debating about ripping 10 rows and reknitting, or ripping 19 rows and crocheting a picot edge.

After I wadded up the shawl and shoved it into a bag, I decided to knit a small something to allay all that big project frustration.

So I began a Celtic Cable Neckwarmer, using some black worsted Malabrigo. Sproingy cables are the best!

And that's it for knitting. No wonder I haven't blogged much. But I did see Nick Cave at the Hollywood Bowl.

The venue was the worst imaginable for his kind of show (they cut the band off halfway through their set due to the sound curfew, which was a total bleepin' rip off), but I hadn't seen him and the Bad Seeds since 1992 in San Francisco, so it was limited fun, but still fun. And he and the band were tight. I bought the best swag:

Not sure what project I'll wad up and cram into it, but I'll make sure it's a worthy one.

And that's it for now, kids. Tune in tomorrow when I showcase some recent spooky yarn additions. 'Tis the season, after all.

On the turntable: Jimmy Smith ~ Crazy! Baby