Rocky Mountain High

Vacation was awesome. Remarkably knit-free, but awesome. The first three days were spent visiting with old friends of mine, Duane and Cindy.

I've known them since my senior year of high school (1981-82). They're the co-owners of Wax Trax Records (aka the best record store in the world)) and mighty fine hosts. Tom had never been to Colorado before this, so we geared our activities around showing him some of the sights.

Highlights include Red Rocks and nearby biker town Morrison...

...contemporary art at the recently remodeled Denver Art Museum and walking around downtown...

Denver Public Library as seen from the Denver Art Museum

...hitting Colfax Avenue for lunch at Davies' Chuck Wagon Diner...

...and a stop at the Tattered Cover before heading to...

...Wax Trax, which will be celebrating its 30th anniversary in November.

The second half of our trip was spent in Boulder and Estes Park. We lolled around the lovely Bradley Boulder Inn...

...ambled around Pearl Street and the CU campus...

... and spent our last day on a mountain drive that culminated in Estes Park.

Boulder Falls

For you pop culture junkies, Estes Park is the home of the Stanley Hotel, which was Stephen King's inspiration for The Shining. We've run around saying "redrum" ever since.

Wonderfully atmospheric shot of the Stanley Hotel

We had such a great time we debated about coming home, but sanity prevailed, and we got on our plane, jiggity jig. Next up, a succinct report on a couple of Denver area LYS, which is all I was able to see since I was 1) surrounded by non-knitters, and 2) busy doing other stuff. Which might have involved pie. Imagine that.

Foliage

Whew. Thanks for letting me vent yesterday. I feel much better. My mood probably has a lot to do with the fact that Tom and I are off on a week's vacation this coming Saturday. We'll be in Colorado, visiting with friends in Denver and hanging in Boulder, home of my alma mater. (Go Buffs!) I won't be online much after this post, so I'll catch up with everyone when I return.

Pattern: Foliage by Emilee Mooney - version 2 for worsted weight yarn
Yarn: Malabrigo Merino Worsted in Moss - 1/2 skein
Needles: Addi Turbo 16" US 5 and 7; Clover bamboo dpns US 7
Mods: To cast on I crocheted a four-loop chain, joined it, picked up the first four knit stitches, and began on Row 2 (kf&b four times) of the pattern.
Rating: * * *

My Reckless Cast On #5 took about a second to knit. That is, after the hour or so I tried to figure out how to do a pleasing-to-the-eye cast on. Okay, maybe I exaggerate, but I did fiddle with the cast on for a while. As per usual, my knitting group came to the rescue - thanks, Marie, for the suggestion - and once that was done, this lace hat quickly finished itself. I love that you start at the crown and work down, that the lace pattern is nice and rustic looking in the Malabrigo, that this is such a quick knit. I'm not a fan of single-ply yarn, and as I knitted, was afraid that if I looked at it the Malabrigo would felt. (Someday I'll buy you all a mai tai, and you can explain the Cult of Malabrigo to me.) However, once knit up, it looked good enough to gift to Beth, whose head you see in the photos. So I did.

Have to dash. There's travel knitting to pick out. Have a great week!

Make Bacon, Not War

Disclaimer: This post is rant heavy. It was written tongue in cheek, but it's still ranty.

"What's in the box?" ~ Brad Pitt in Se7en

Late last year I saw that Woolgirl was hosting a Seven Deadly Sins yarn club called the Seven Deadly S(p)ins. Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Wrath, Envy and Pride? Sign me up. The first shipment was Gluttony, and was kinda twee, but I stayed open minded as I gleefully anticipated what was to come. And then the second shipment, Wrath, arrived Monday. Wrath, people. Gonna be good. I pictured a box full of dark blood red yarn, a copy of Medea, some dark chocolate, maybe a pattern for a voodoo doll and a bottle of arsenic...you get the idea. I might have been slavering on the box as I opened it.

To this:

WTF? My head almost exploded. For some reason we weren't getting Wrath. Oh no. The theme instead was "spun" into its opposite: Peace. What the fuck? I feel so cheated I'm ranting about it three days later like some crazy person on the Hip Knits Ravelry thread.

Now, I respect the care that was given to this package, which cost me $39.25 by the way. The bath theme with its sheep washcloth pattern, soap, bath salts and chamomile teabags swag is...nice. The measly 150 yards of blue DK cotton yarn, not so much. The Lily's Sugar n Cream equivalent? Approximately $2. The club runners do address this in their accompanying letter by saying "Please note that this month's shipment is a tad 'light' on yarn, but please no 'wrathful' thoughts about this, as our upcoming shipments will have more than enough yarn to make up for this lighter and more peaceful package." So, they, uh, know they're shorting us? Yup.

More head almost exploding. I had to take two Extra Strength Tylenol and go furiously knit on Flutter. It didn't help, and I actually posted my dismay - like some crazy person - on the Ravelry SDS club board. It didn't help, so here I am ranting to you.

If I wanted fluffy bunnies and sparkly unicorns I would've joined the FBSU yarn club. But I didn't. And I hate to be condescended to/bait and switched; it makes me cranky, and not in the mood to knit a frickin' $40 sheep washcloth or soak in bubbles contemplating world peace. No, instead it makes me want to use my yarn to...make the above mentioned voodoo doll. Hmm, I wonder if there's a pattern on...aah, the Anti Craft. Bad Juju. Lovely.

And, while on the Anti Craft site, I discovered the new issue was up. It's dedicated to bacon. The entire thing. Bacon. The first pattern is even called Bacon of Hate - read about its wonderful raison d'etre here - and is the perfect little receptacle for my wrath. Uh, I mean peace. Lovely. That Zabet, she'd do the Seven Deadlies right.

Oh, and if you're wondering, I can hardly wait until I get my Pine Sol and mop duster pattern with accompanying tract on good housecleaning for Sloth.

Good Stuff

1. Bright, Sunshiny Day

Anita says I make her day. Thanks, Anita! Hers is one of the first blogs I started reading way back when, and I'm continually awed by her wicked sock knitting skills. And her way with Rowan yarn. She and I have done a couple of swaps, and her heart is B.I.G.

As for passing along this sweet sentiment, I love all of you. Doesn't that sound L.A.? Yeah, well, I do. But, after thinking about it for a few days, I want to give a shout out to a few special grrls:

Mary - Founder of my knitting group and maker of a mean lemon bar. Her urging me to do so is the reason I started this blog, and her untiring enthusiasm for all things yarn-related keeps me inspired and knittin' alongside her.

Marie - Co-founder of my knitting group and a fellow tweed lover. She shares her knowledge selflessly and never laughs at my moments of knitting idiocy. (It's embarrassing how long it took me to figure out a workable cast on for Foliage, but her suggestion saved the hat.) She likes Neil Gaiman. 'Nuff said.

Ellen - Sometimes I think we were separated at birth. Except she's way hipper than I. I'm still not sure about this acrylic she keeps telling me about, though; sounds a little newfangled to me.

Laura - For some reason, she puts up with me even though I sometimes leave her totally random blog comments. And break her wine glasses. We share a geeky love of Captain Tightpants...maybe that has something to do with it??

Meredith - Her blog - like her - is honest, positive, and laugh out loud amusing, and while we may live far away from each other, I'd totally take her to my favorite tiki bar if she came to visit.

Melanie - She's feisty, funny, and strong. I can't wait to get the first installment of her Punk Rock Sock Club; as I told her, I've almost gnawed off my fingers in anticipation.

Wendy - We bought $5 postcards together. Isn't that insane? If we were in high school together we'd be hell on wheels: Smoking in the girl's room, riding with boys in Camaros, drinking blueberry daiquiris under pool tables while listening to AC/DC...so it's a good thing we met now. She has the best taste in stash I've ever run across. And yes, I'm talking about yarn.

Ladies, you make my day!

2) I Need Some New Projects

Bye, bye Boing!

The Reckless Cast On was a success. Of my seven projects, I've completed three (Reverse Cable Scarf, Foliage, and Rick Rack), frogged one (Boing), and am still plugging away on the remaining three (Flutter, Cable Footies, and Neck Down Cardi). Details to come on the FOs.

3) Or Maybe I Don't

My knitting group is running a Spring Cleaning KAL until 6/20. We're finishing our UFOs, and some people are making good headway. My project is my Lenores. I've knit an inch on them.

4. A Great Argument for (Hand) Knits

On the Seventh Day...

~ Project #7 - Friday ~

...I cast on my final reckless cast on. I always like to have an easy felted bag on the needles. They're great group knitting, and oh so practical when they're done.

Thanks to Ravelry I discovered this cute pattern, Rick Rack, and decided it would do as the perfect spring bag to make. (though for some reason I keep wanting to call it Riff Raff) I'm knitting it in my fave girly grrl combo - hot pink and red - out of some Patons Classic Wool I scored super cheap last fall.

And so, gentle reader, our madcap week of casting on high jinx comes to a close. Though I do have a postscript: When I told Tom what I was doing he was quiet for a second and then asked, "So, since you're doing one a day, will you continue knitting that project on the same day from now on?" My first thought was Wow, even I'm not that OCD. My second? Hey, that's a pretty good idea.

Happy weekend, everyone!

Swatchi Smiled

~Project #6 - Thursday ~

And I cheated. I actually cast on Knitting Pure and Simple's pattern #241 last night around 11 pm. In true reckless style I haven't washed my gauge swatch, so I could be frakked. I have a good feeling about this, though, and am choosing to think not. (If you're missing your rosy colored glasses, let me know.)

The yarn in use is Brown Sheep's Cotton Fleece. Another first for me; partner-in-crime Mary and I scored some at the current Little Knits' sale. The colorway is Black Forest, a dark, dark green in sunlight that assumes a blackish tint in shade. It's knitting like a dream, and I envision myself wearing this cardi non-stop when it's finished.

Happy May Day! Hope you're all boinking, er knitting, your little hearts out.

Foliage

~ Project #5 - Wednesday ~

Today's cast on was an afterthought. This afternoon the mail person brought me some much anticipated yarn - more on that later - and I spent today's knitting time swatching for my next sweater. Realizing the day's almost over, I grabbed a ball of Malabrigo - my first! - and cast on the first three rows of Foliage. I'm sure this will be a lovely knit, but right now I just want to get back to my sweater swatching. I've even prayed to Swatchi, the goddess of gauge, in hopes that she smiles upon my efforts. If she does, project #6 is in the bag!

Reckless Casting On Continues

~ Project #3 - Monday ~
This one really was spontaneous. Yesterday afternoon Mary gifts me with Boing, five minutes later I grab my hank of coveted Sweet Georgia Handpainted Lace in Fondant and cast on. And immediately realize that this project is a problem child. The pattern is easy, but sadistic as it employs p2tog tbl stitches. On size 3 needles in lace weight that's a total bitch. The yarn is fun - if any pattern calls for this wacky colorway, Boing is it - but the merino is grabby and already beginning to fuzz. Erm. We'll see how this one goes; it may be destined for the frog pond.

~ Project #4 - Tuesday ~
Today's project is one I've been meaning to do for a while. I'm making my Mom a pair of One Skein's Cable Footies , using Dream in Color's Classy in Lipstick Lava. It's my first time knitting with DIC, and I'm lovin' the little I've knit.

This exercise is fun. It's getting me outside my knitting comfort zone in a good way. It's giving me practice in fitting patterns with stash yarn, something I often have trouble doing. It's using up said stash yarn, which helps with my Mission: Possible 2008 goals. It's shown me that I like a little silk in my lace yarn, and that an order to Sarah's Yarns for some Zephyr might be in order. It's prompting me to start some I-really-should-knit-that-project projects that have been lingering too long on my to-do list. Huh. Who knew it would be so introspective. Well, knitting's like that sometimes.

Impetuous

A few weeks ago Mary and I were kicking around the idea of a KAL where you cast on whatever your little heart desires. No fuss, no muss, no talk of finishing, just reckless casting on...the knitting equivalent of Boogie Nights. We were half joking, but on Saturday last I decided Why the hell not? So I'm casting on a project a day this week!

~ Project #1 - Saturday ~
First up is a reversible scarf pattern from Lori Lawson (Rav profile here) using some of her delish hand painted angora/merino yarn. It cranked on US 10s, and within 24 hours I had bound off.

Pattern: Reverse Cable Scarf by Capistrano Fiber Arts Studio
Yarn: Capistrano Fiber Arts Studio Angora/Merino in Golden Eye - 2 skeins
Needles: Clover 9" US 10 straights
Mods: None
Rating: Ed Wood would approve
Ravelry link here

See the little spots of emerald amidst the olive and gold?

Wham, bam, what a satisfying knit. The yarn? Gorgeous. Angora. Which happens to be a guilty pleasure of mine. Sure, I was snorting fuzz as I knit, but what a high. At the larger gauge the scarf drapes nicely, and the yarn is shown off to advantage. I could make ten of these, but onto...

~ Project #2 - Sunday ~
This one is Wendy's fault. She says Knit with cashmere. I say Okay. (Yeah, I'm easy. And yeah, Wendy knows her shit when it comes to knitting with the good stuff.) Yesterday I cast on Flutter using Posh Yarn's Camilla in Chocolate. Camilla is a two-ply lace weight cashmere I bought on sale from Pick Up Sticks last summer. The dye job? Inferior - half is rich cordovan and chocolate, half is lackluster shades of brown and tan, and the resultant pooling is all sorts of random craptastic - but I just can't stop knitting long enough to start over with another yarn. Because, well, cashmere. 'Tis yummy. And I can always overdye when I'm done, right?

The pooling, it be fugly

Today's project is still TBD, so tune in tomorrow to see what rooting around in the stash scares up. Wow, isn't this exciting?

It Fits! It Fits!

Check it out. Tom has a Cobblestone. Just need to kitchener the armpits and sew in the ends. Tom loves how it fits, and my fears of creating my first man dress have been assuaged. (Well, mostly. Hopefully it won't double in size when I wash it. Cross your fingers, will ya? Thanks.)

More details later. Now I dance the man sweater victory dance!

The Girl Is Crafty

The girl is crafty like ice is cold!
~Beastie Boys

A little while ago Cher blogged here about the Pay It Forward handmade gift exchange project that's going around blogland. I thought it sounded cool. So I signed up, and she sent me the most bitchin' package.

She combined it with my birthday, and my loot includes a hand knit skull washcloth and a cabled wrist warmer in green (one of my favorite colors!); a mix CD; and a skull pendant from Imogen.

The wrist warmer is actually this pattern for a coffee cup cozy, but I'm wearin' it instead. (Ravelry pattern link here.)

I'd also like to spread the DIY love - and hope you will, too - so here's the official scoop:

I will send a lovely handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment here requesting to join this PIF (Pay It Forward) exchange. I'm not sure what that gift will be yet- it will be a surprise! The only thing you have to do in return is to pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog.

Once you sign up, I'll email you to let you know that you are one of the three. Then copy and paste the above paragraph on your blog, and three other lucky people will be recipients of your handmade work.

Thanks, Cher, for my wicked cool goodies!

What's My Line?

First Debi did it. Then La. Then Shannon. I so want to hang with the cool kids, I'm doing it, too.

Movie Meme

1. Pick 10 of your favorite movies.
2. Go to IMDb and find a quote from each movie.
3. Post them on your blog for everyone to guess.
4. Strike it out when someone guesses correctly, and put who guessed it and the movie.
5. Looking them up is cheating, please don’t. If you do, a big thug named Guido will pay you a call. Naw, not really, but I'll be sad that you're a cheater.

1. Workers of the world, unite!
2. The numbers all go to eleven. ~ This Is Spinal Tap ~ Carrie
3. And it exploded. ~ Galaxy Quest ~ Debi
4. Hey, nice marmot. ~ The Big Lebowksi ~ Andria (nice triple play, grrl)
5. You eat a lot of acid, Miller, back in the hippie days? ~ Repo Man ~ Cher
6. We're on a mission from God. ~ Blues Brothers ~ Andria
7. Anybody interested in grabbing a couple of burgers and hittin' the cemetery?
8. As you all know, first prize is a Cadillac Eldorado...Second prize is a set of steak knives. Third prize is you're fired. ~ Glengarry GlenRoss ~ Andria
9. You're not gonna fuckin' kill me, are you?
10. I am big. It's the pictures that got small. ~ Sunset Boulevard ~ Lisa

Birthday Fun

This past Saturday Ellen, Jillian, Linda, Marie, Melise, MJ, Patty, and Wendy helped me celebrate my birthday in grand fashion. As usual my photo taking was sporadic and random, but Ellen has a great slide show of the day here. (The cupcake and oilcloth bag photos seen here are hers, too.)

We met at Gilbert's El Indio for lunch, and then hit the Oaxacan folk art store Artesanias Oaxaquenas to check out their oilcloth bags.

After that we went on a mini yarn crawl to Yarns Unlimited and Wild Fiber in Santa Monica. There were cupcakes. And presents. There were funny waiters who showed us their chest hair and asked for our dollars. There was plenty of yarn ogling and fondling. Someone was heard to say, "Forget merino. Go for cashmere."

Patty at the Wall of Koigu in Wild Fiber

There was even a vintage hearse sighting.

It was 90 degrees in Santa Monica, and no one passed out from heat exhaustion.

Probably the only thing that could have better was if we'd had yarn boys to carry our bags and feed us grapes; with this thought in mind I'm already brainstorming for next year.

Thanks for celebrating with me, ladies!

A Long Time Coming

Pattern: Gothic Leaf Stole by Sivia Harding
Yarn: Euroflax Sportweight Linen in Eggplant - 4 skeins
Needles: US 4 29" Bryspun circs
Finished Dimensions: 15" by 85"
Mods: Cast on 89 stitches instead of 105 for one less repeat; didn't graft but knit straight
Rating: The planets aligned
Ravelry link here.

My Mom was in town visiting us for the past week. While she was here - she left this morning - I finally gave her her Gothic Leaf. Truth be told, it was kinda hard to do. Because, well, the finished project was just so darn lovely, and I was feeling rather...possessive about it.

I'm 90% a process knitter, and I knit for others almost always. When I give things away, they're gone. I hope people like the things I make for them, and am always pleased to hear back when they do. (And if they don't, well, I hope they donate them to a thrift shop so someone else may use it, but I never stress over it. It's probably the most Zen I ever am.) And my Mom is the best recipient for which a gal could ask. She's not a knitter, but she loves handknits. And she's one of the few people who likes and wears shawls, which is great when I'm channeling the lace.

But. After her Gothic Leaf was washed and blocked, the linen seduced me. Supple, with a little shine, the stitches glowed. When I would hold the shawl up, the drape was righteous. The shawl has been finished for two months, but somehow I never could get around to wrapping it up and mailing it. It lived instead on the top of my stash bins, in a little plastic bag, and I found myself taking it out and stroking it regularly. But when Mom arrived I did the right thing and handed it over. And boy, am I glad I did now. It's perfect for her, don't you think?

Gothic Leaf is pure comfort knitting. Very simple lace, it doesn't even employ psso's (only k2tog's and ssk's). The pattern is easily memorized, and varied enough not to make you want to stick your head in the oven after the zillionth row. I started out using lifelines, but abandoned them early on. The original pattern is grafted, but per Sivia's instructions for knitting it in linen, I knit mine straight. I also left out one repeat in the row, to make it smaller for my Mom's petite frame.

Gothic Leaf is the third pattern of Sivia's I've knit, and the second I've finished. (Hanging Garden languishes somewhere.) So it was with joy in my heart that I received my first Year of Lace kit a few weeks ago, as Sivia has written the pattern for it, too. (What? I didn't tell you I'd signed up for this club? Huh. I wonder how it slipped my mind.)

The pattern is called Phoenix Rising, and is a triangular shawl. I'd cast on, but the accompanying skein of Claudia's Silk Lace has 5 (!) knots in it. Not good. The gals at Make 1 have been very proactive - I guess there are several of us that received sub par skeins - and I'm hoping to receive a replacement skein soon.

In the meantime, I'm chugging along on Cobblestone. I'm roughly 5" up the yoke. I do have a question for those of you who've made this sweater: How did you do the short rows in garter stitch? My knit ones are fine, but my purl ones make huge, honkin' holes. I've picked up the wrap on the next row (which is a knit row), but that doesn't make any difference. Sorry, I don't have photos, but any advice is appreciated.

This weekend is busy. Tomorrow is a birthday shindig featuring yarn and knitting for yours truly. (Turning 44 has its perks.) And tomorrow night my BFF Laura is having an art opening. She painted my bitchin' Knitdevil you see on the sidebar. If you're in the Los Angeles area and have a thing for luchadores, check her paintings out at the Bike Oven.

Happy weekend!

Kickin' Out the Jams*

Happy spring! Not much blogging has happened this month, but there's been a good amount of knitting. And, just to mix it up a bit, some crochet, too.

March goals:

+ Keep knitting related purchases under $100. Well, it isn't the end of the month quite yet, but due to some strategic selling on Ravelry I've managed to spend $30.03 out of pocket in March. I'm not planning on buying anything else this month, and I have a lot of wiggle room even if I do, so I'm considering this a victory.
+ Finish crocheting baby blanket for Tom's grandnephew. Done. Details below.
+ Finish body of Cobblestone and one sleeve. Done. Knitting sleeves in the round is really fast, isn't it? I finished the first and cast on the second in two days. For me that's, like, unheard of fast.

I also cast on and finished the first cuff of my Lenore socks. There was a brief panic phase, where I thought I'd done one of the decreases incorrectly, but after conferring with my confreres discovered everything was copacetic. All the angst pooped me out, though, so the sock has been in time out since then. Still, it's pretty, yes?

* * *

Fine Lines Baby Blanket

Pattern: Fine Lines from Candy Blankies by Candi Jensen
Yarn: Rowan All Seasons Cotton in Lime Leaf (5 balls) and Citron, Remote, and Giddy (2 balls each)
Hook: I
Mods: None
Rating: Perfect baby shower gift
Ravelry link here.

As many of you know, last year was a year of orgiastic stash enhancement for me. This was largely due to several great 50% off sales, and the yarn for this blanket was acquired through two of them. Two years ago I made the first version of this blanket for my knit buddy Beth when she was expecting her second child. I hadn't expected to make another, but Rowan All Seasons Cotton at 50% off? In pretty, Easter egg shell colors? Hey, babies are always being born, right? Lemme get my credit card.

Not much to say about the pattern - it's mindless half double crochet with a single crochet border - but the Rowan colors just make me happy, y'know? And it's fast, which is great when the baby arrives several weeks early...which is what Tom's grandnephew did.

Well, we're pretty caught up, so that's it for this time. Catch ya on the flipside!

*Anyone else an MC5 fan?

Yeah Yeah Yeah

Hi! Here I am. February sucked. Let's sweep away the last vestiges of it, shall we, and jump into good stuff? Oh, yes, lets!

Goal Tending Pt. 2

February goals:
+ Keep knitting related purchases under $100. This includes yarn, patterns, needles, everything. Total spent = $41.94.
+ Finish Gothic Leaf Stole. Done! Recap this week.
+ Cast on Cobblestone and knit 10" of the body. Done! Approximately 16" up the body. I need to take it off the needles and measure, as I'm getting close to setting up for the sleeves at 17". I'm still lovin' the yarn. And the sizing is plenty big. It might be too big, but I have a contingency plan if it is: Feed Tom more cookies.
+ Cast on and finish first Lenore sock. Nope. I cast on twice, and ripped both times.

March goals:
+ Keep knitting related purchases under $100.
+ Finish crocheting baby blanket for Tom's grandnephew.
+ Finish body of Cobblestone and one sleeve.

Why, yes, March is a slacker goal month. Whatever. I'm feeling rebellious, and staving off lace shawl cravings until my Year of Lace (Ravelry group here) package arrives.

Mission Possible 2008

Finished goals are in italic. Goals finished in February are in orange.

1. Gift spinning wheel, spinning books, and fiber to Patty.
2. Felt one pair and Plasti Dip soles of 3 pairs of felted slippers.
3. Finish Gothic Leaf Stole. (4 skeins of Euroflax Sportweight in Eggplant)
4. Finish Cobblestone. (?? balls of Queensland Kathmandu Aran Tweed)
5. Finish Shedir. (1 ball of Rowan Calmer in Coffee Bean)
6. Crochet baby blanket out of Rowan All Seasons Cotton. (11 balls in Citron, Giddy, Lime Leaf and Remote)
7. Crochet stealth project.
8. Knit Unoriginal Hat out of STR Leticia in Ravenscroft.
9. Knit Unoriginal Hat out of STR Leticia in Hard Rock.
10. Knit Lenore socks out of STR Lightweight in Lenore.
11. Knit a pair of fingerless gloves (either ggh Cashmere or Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran).
12. Knit another pair of socks.

I Knit a Hat

Pattern: Noro Hat by Saartje de Bruijn
Yarn: Noro Taiyo in colorway 1 - 1 skein
Needles: US 7 16" Addi Turbos
Mods: None
Rating: *****

On President's Day our knitting group held an impromptu meetup. During it we moseyed over to the LYS, espied a basket of Noro Taiyo, and most of us came home with a skein. Casting about for a project for mine, I lit on Saartje's hat. It's great TV knitting you can finish in an evening or two.

And while I don't have the photos to prove it, it looks good on everyone. Trust me, it does.

The Taiyo is loosely spun and soft; perfect for a hat. I did suffer the ubiquitous Noro experience: almost to the end of the skein, the yarn shredded apart a foot away from a knot with an ungainly color join. (This join robbed me of my second repeat of pink. Gah.) It's kinda pricey, so I don't know if I'd buy it for a larger project. But for a one skein project? Very versatile.

Conforming

Pattern: Unoriginal Hat by Yarn Harlot
Yarn: Blue Moon Fiber Arts Leticia in Hard Rock - 1 skein
Needles: US 11 Takumi dpns
Mods: None
Rating: Quickies can be satisfying

It was the night before the Super Bowl. Craving an easy knit, I cast on for Mission: Possible 2008 goal # 9, aka Yarn Harlot's Unoriginal Hat. The next day, sometime during the game, I cast off. All told, maybe 2 hours of knitting. The dpns slowed me down, and confirmed that in the circs vs. dpns debate for hat knitting I'm a circs girl all the way.

Before knitting, I perused Ravelry to see what people said about the pattern. There were several mentions of running out of yarn, and, when knitting on size US 10 1/2, of the hat turning out too small. So I bumped up to US 11, and felt like Scrooge as I suspiciously watched my yarn slither from ball to needles. Well. I shouldn't have worried. I had yarn to spare. And a hat that was huge on me. Luckily, it fit better on Mary - it's her noggin in the photo - and she graciously took it off my hands.

I have another skein of Leticia in Ravenscroft earmarked for another Unoriginal. Dunno, I might just use it to make a simple 2x2 ribbed hat instead. Or, if I do feel the need to blend in again, I'll go down to a US 10 1/2 and, depending on sizing, maybe only do one repeat of the pattern . 'Coz I do love me that Ravenscroft in all its dark, brooding wonderfulness.

Other knitting continues apace. Gothic Leaf is done (finally!) except for weaving in the ends and blocking. I've begun Cobblestone v. 2.0. I've gone up two sizes, and am roughly 3" into the body. I'm still loving the yarn, and the stockinette is very soothing. I've successfully controlled my urges about casting on Lenore, and will begin them on the 15th. Lenore is the next KAL my knitting group is doing this year, and the 15th is our official start date.

I'm also casting about for some good plane knitting, so if you have any ideas, please let me know. Unfortunately, Tom and I need to attend to some sad family business out of town this week, so I'll be away from a computer from Tuesday until we return late Thursday. See ya when we get back.

Goal Tending

Here we are, three days into February, and I've yet to 'fess up to how my January goals went for Stash Knit Down 2008 and Mission: Possible 2008. Without further ado...

Stash Knit Down 2008

January goals:
+ Buy no yarn - I folded like a cheap suit after 12 days.

A skein of Wollmeise in Frosch from the Loopy Ewe (yes, I succumbed to the hysteria).

Two gorgeous skeins of Bloodflowers in Aura and Nirvana from Melanie. It's a grey, rainy day today, and this colorway is difficult to catch in all its beauty, but here's a close up of the Aura that's nearer to the real color. The Nirvana is available in her etsy shop, so hurry, go get yourself some!

Also: I committed to a reup on my Loopy Ewe Sock Club subscription (though I haven't paid for it yet, so I'm not counting it). I bought more yarn for my stealth crochet project, too, as I ran short at the end. Oh, and I helped Wendy out with her sale, too. Hey, anything for a friend, right?
+ Don't whine about buying no yarn - I didn't whine a bit during the 12 days I actually controlled myself.
+ Cast on Lenore socks - My knitting group is knitting these for our second KAL of the year. It begins on 2/15, so I'm waiting to cast on then.
+ Finish knitting Cobblestone - Hahaha. This is a good one. It's frogged and waiting to be cast on again.
+ Stealth crochet project - DONE

February goals:
+ Keep knitting related purchases under $100. This includes yarn, patterns, needles, everything.
+ Finish Gothic Leaf Stole.
+ Cast on Cobblestone and knit 10" of the body.
+ Cast on and finish first Lenore sock.

Mission: Possible 2008

#7 - Crochet stealth project - DONE

I'm puttering along on a few others, too, but won't include them until they're 100% finito.

Silent Poetry Reading for the Feast of St. Brigid

To Emily Bronte

The witch-owls call, black shadows fall
About my lonely way;
The wind sinks down, and ne'er a sound
Proclaims the passing day.

I am alone, all others gone
Into the warmth and light,
Again once more, as oft before,
I hear the voice of night.

For me alone those murmurs come
From the rustling woods;
For me alone the sea makes moan
Beneath his aching floods.

All interwove with jewelled love
Are beauty, joy and woe;
All one with me, the singing sea,
The grey sheep as they go.

~ Florence Cortis-Stanford
from An Anthology of Scottish Women Poets
by Catherine Kerrigan