Knit n Things

I crack myself up sometimes.

I often go to a waterfront park near my job for my lunch hour - so today I go to the park and I’m listening to the radio & working on the Picovoli sweater (which has been terribly neglected and sending me threatening looks from the knitting bag) and since I’ve forgotten the next tape of the book I’m currently “reading” I’m looking over some other stuff (oh the horror – I can’t believe I got caught without a single book!)

A little aside here: I’ve finally appreciate the benefits of knitting in plain stockinette stitch. Up until today this sweater has bored me to no end – the yarn is just plain one colored cotton and the stitch is just plain stockinette, I have no kidding had to bribe myself to work on this sweater. That is until today, when I discovered I can READ & KNIT AT THE SAME TIME!!!! Like really read. I could read whole paragraphs with only minor glances at my knitting once in a while! I’m actually considering working on this sweater a bit more often now!

Back to my insanity – so I’m knitting and listening to the radio and I’m reading and I started cracking up – I was hysterical. Thank goodness the only witnesses to my mania were the geese. See I was making my sweater, such a sweet girly thing (it’s pink)… and listening to some Nine Inch Nails (heavy metal for those that don’t know) and reading my Rugby primer! How far could you possibly get from sweet grandmotherly type knitter! This stuck me as hilarious and had me cracking up for several minutes. Although I think it loses something in translation cuz I’m reading this post over and it’s not nearly the laugh riot I thought it was – guess you’d have to be in my head to see the true comedy of it…or maybe you’d have to know that Rugby can look like this. Ya I’m just a little nuts!

I just have a minute - but I have to share this wonderful news!! I told you al labout the yarn shortage for Kiri right? Well I went to the LYS this weekend and ... (I'm so lucky) they had more... in my dye lot!!! Whooo hooo!! I bought two just in case! Kiri may just get finished in this lifetime!

Not that you'd know it...cuz it's flippin cold outside! Sometimes Mom nature can be so cruel - a few weeks ago we got a little spring teaser it was like 65...I want that weather back! Anyway look what I've been up to.
HA - bet you thought I forgot about these... well I didn't. Just had to take a break from them because they are NOT mindless socks. But they are nice so it was worth it. I think I had some bad mojo going on when I was doing the second sock because it's not as snug fitting as the first one, it's a good thing I'm not Trek or I'd be ripping out the whole thing ;) In case you missed the deets last time around these are the Embossed Leave Socks from IK's fall issue in Cherry Tree Navy.

Check out what I scored!

Interchangable bamboo needles...with tips pointy enough for lace knitting! Yes I know I just got a set of interchangables for Christmas and I've only used them once...but these are bamboo!! Aren't they nice?! I like this whole knitting community thing - you mention you like someone's stuff and they find it for you for a good deal. I'm so lucky!

Crappy pictures for your viewing pleasure. Why did no one tell me that lace is ridiculously hard to photograph?? I just spent the past 20 minutes with camera & pins attempting to make some sense out of this thing so you all could see what I'm up to and this is what I came up with. It does the shawl no justice at all - it's much prettier in person I swear. And when it's all blocked out (sometime in this decade I hope) it will be stunning. Although at 8 stitch increases per round and 200 some odd stitches at round 50 and maybe 150 rounds to go I highley doubt this thing will be done anytime soon. I really don't understand how these women are done already. It boggles the mind.

Nothing exciting has been happening lately. There’s a reason I make small projects. So I have something to talk about on the blog – nothing is getting finished so what do I have to talk about? I mean really, how bored are you with Kiri?? I know I am. And to add insult I’m running short on yarn. The powers that be have cursed me from the beginning with this damn shawl and if it wasn’t so pretty I may have burned it a long time ago. I have two pattern repeats left – TWO – and there’s no way that I can do them both and the edging without running out of yarn. It makes me want to throw things – I could put the edging on now and be done with it however I think it will make it too short. I’m guessing here but I don’t think it will grow that much with blocking, if I finished it up now it would probably be 15” long to a 40” width (that’s a wild & sarcastic guess). So I’m going to go get another skein of this stuff and pray to the woolly powers that the dye lot isn’t so far off that the shawl is ruined forever!

The MS3 is coming along a snail’s pace. Either I’m a slow knitter or the people in this KAL have no life. They’re all starting on clue 5 today. I’m still not done with clue one. I don’t understand how these women are doing it so fast – they must not have anything else on needles and knit 8 hours a day. This thing is going to be huge. I’ve already got something like 200 stitches and I’m only ¾ of the way through the first chart! It takes me like an hour for almost 4 rows. That’s provided I don’t goof & loose my place in the chart or screw up and have to tink back. This is the most complicated thing I’ve attempted so far and while it’s beautiful and I’m excited to see it finished it’s going to be a looooonnnnngggggg time coming. I’m going to attempt to photograph it this weekend. Wish me luck.

Today was my knitting guild meeting (I'm suck a dork) anyway we had this stash swap/sell deal today and I scored this book for six bucks! I know aren't you jealous!! I missed out on the folk shawls book by a couple of minutes I'm rather upset about that but whadarya gonna do? (Although I did consider leaving money & running with the book - but alas my common sense won - damn) So at anyrate there's lots of cool info in here & a couple of sock patterns that I just love. Can't wait to try them out - I'll need to get more sock yarn though (oh the tragedy) cuz I'm thinkin solid colors & I don't have any on hand. Which means I'll probably do a knitpicks order because the LYS doesn't have much in solid sock yarn. Maybe I'll order so Wool for a sweater too (that line of thought could get dangerous.)

So I finally caved in an put a counter on the blog. I've got mixed emotions about the counter but I really wanted one so Trek hooked me up (as usual) **THANKS** so now I know...I know that 15 people in the last hour have looked at my blog (wow that's a lot) None of these 15 people have commented but doesn't bother me too much because I myself am a lurker. Besides the fact that I always want to respond to the comments but Blogger doesn't include e-mails addresses for you so sometimes it's frustrating. Anyway, I did have a point when I started this....what was it....oh right so now that I KNOW that people that I don't know read my blog - you must say hello. Just this once a quick shout-out to say hi, maybe a link to your blog so I can do the same ... you don't HAVE to but it would be really nice. I promise never to beg for comments again - this is the last time - unless of course I succumb to the urge to get a Frapper Map... oh and on my birthday (July 5) I might beg for some B'day love then... but that's it I promise, or maybe.... ;)

**Warning this post may be a little long and sappy.

Sometimes I question what I've done to deserve the wonderful people that are in my life. I really have no business counting these people as my friends they are too good to me & I am humbled by how well they treat me. I really am blessed with amazing friends.

Here's what happened at knit night - I get there and Trek is all gung ho to yell at me about something..."Jo your in trouble sit down!" (like I'm some kind of two year old about to get scolded) this freaks me out a little bit but I dutifully make my way to where she's got herself set up in the corner. So I'm doin the meet & greet thing making my way into the corner (haven't seen everybody in a week must say hello) and she's calls me again "Jo get over here!" I'm gettin I'm gettin... Anyway I make my way over there and she gives me some speil -"let me see your socks" I'm thinking crap she wants to see the socks my mom made me which I don't have on (I don't even think I've posted them here either....have I?) and I tell her "I don't actually have any socks on" then she's says "well that works out perfect" and hands me these...

She made me Jaywalkers! I almost cried (somewhere between the hollering & the squealing & the jumping up and down I think there could've been a few tears) I was so excited. I think I showed the entire Borders cafe my new socks. I can't believe she gave me socks! This is my first hand Knit gift not from my mom & it was socks! How freakin cool is that!!! (*for the record I have received hand crocheted stuff from Tisha which was equally cool - but not socks!!...sorry T)

After I calmed down a bit I sit down and attempt to get some knitting started (it's terribly hard to knit while your petting your new socks) and T says to me "give me your knitting bag" me - thinkin she need a needle or lotion or something so I hand it over. She then proceeds to take out my projects & start throwing out the bags they're in (I usually have about 3 projects in my knit bag & I tend to keep them in plastic bags so the yarns & needles don't tangle and make a mess) So she's chuckin the bags & I'm looking on in curiosity (cuz I KNOW there is a reason she's makin a mess of my stuff) and she starts putting my projects into these. (I apologize for the garbage picture)

She made me little project bags with magnetic closures! Like six of them...in different sizes...and they match the needle cases she made me a few weeks ago! I can't tell you how excited I was by these little bags - no more crinkles, and no more needles making holes in the side!! And don't my two shawls look so comfy pokin out of their new little homes?

My Friends Kick Ass!! (all of them - not just the ones who give me stuff) Thank you so much guys!

Oh and by the way... Tisha started a blog - go say hi! Ask her to make you stuff!

I’ve entered into some kind of wicked nothingness where I knit & knit & knit and nothing happens. I’ve been working on Kiri for hours & hours I’ve got three pattern repeats to go, you’d think that would go fast, yea right. At this rate it may never get done because it’s getting annoying. I must remember this for future, casting on 300 stitches may be a pain but the hard part is done while you still love the shawl not when you’re bored with it.

The mystery shawl growing nicely but it looks like a tangle of yarn, I can’t figure out how to photograph it. The mystery behind how big it is and what it’s going to look like makes it very entertaining to work on. I’m way behind though – the group is doing clue 4 already, I’m only about halfway through clue one. This however turns out to be a very good thing because the fast knitters find the mistakes in the charts & get them fixed before I even get close to it. It’s too big for dpn’s now and it’s moved on to circs.

Which brings me to what I did this weekend. Tisha & I went to hunt up a new (to us) yarn shop. It’s about a half hour from my house & the Mapquest directions SUCKED so it took us almost an hour to get there. But it was worth it cuz guess what – they carry Crystal Palace bamboo needles. Do you know why that’s cool? Cuz CP needles have pointy ends – I’ve been using Clover bamboos so far on the MS3 & let me just say it is a pain in the ass to do a double decrease with the blunt ends. So I switched over and I’m in love! This is my first set of these needles – they are way nice, a little slicker than I’m used to bamboo’s being but so far it’s not really a problem.

Guess what else they had – a set of Brittney Birch cable needles…a whole set S,M,L - similar to the one I lost that I loved. My other yarn shop has had trouble re-stocking those needles so I was very excited to find something similar & in all the sizes instead of getting them individually. I need to find a cable project soon so I can try them out!