Knitting Support

877-SOS-KNIT. Toll free and hilarious. Thank you Yarn Harlot :)

So apparently a bunch of grandmothers knit a big, pink bunny. Oh, really big. And on top of a mountain. And, um, they're going to leave it there for 20 years....I just want to know who got stuck with the finishing....that's got to be alot of seams...

By far, the more creepy of the two pictures. 

You can't really see it, but this is the beginnings of branching out using a silk-wool blend. I'm hoping it'll show up more when I block it! 

My mom's second FBS - I'm not as pleased with this one as I was with the first. I didn't pay attention to the bind-off (seems to be a common problem with me these days) and couldn't pull out the points. So I blocked it upside down...still contemplating frogging the last row, but I don't really want to pick up that many stitches.... 

Cindy's OSW - ignore the little strings in the corner - I was trying to hide the ends I hadn't woven in. I think (hope) it'll fit now after I redid the bind-off. I love the yarn - soft and very red - I may need to get my own! 

Finally - pictures. Here's a lovely shot of Amy's 2nd sock - one of the 2 projects I have at work with me. I'm using Kim's pattern for a toe-up short sock - seems to work well with cotton yarn! 

Hillary's Turtleneck Shrug, also with me at work :) I'm an inch or so from the bind-off from the shoulders and should get alot done tonight at SnB!

If you haven't checked it out - Margene and Susan have been tracking Red Cross donations from knitters - over $65,000 right now.

Slowly digging through the stash

I've been making some good progress on all my projects - Amy's socks, Cindy's OSW, Mom's FBS, Steve's penguin, and the scarf pal's Turtleneck shrug. I also failed to resist the urge to cast on more projects. Oh well - knitter's ADD.

Socks - I like the color and texture of the yarn, but I don't think I'll be making socks with cotton again any time soon. They just aren't elastic enough - though it's less of a problem with the footlets I'm making.

OSW - beautiful yarn - I'll get Cindy to take a picture when I give it back to her. Despite checking guage, it still turned out a bit small. So I took out the last row, did another round of ribbing on larger needles, and did some crazy bind off that's supposed to be more elastic. Once I find it in the pile of boxes, I'll weave in the ends and maybe block it....though it may be ok for now....

FBS - sigh. I did the wrong bind off for this one and so blocked it upside down to cope with the tight edge. I thought about undoing the last row, but decided I wasn't into that much pain.

Penguin - pattern from knitty. When I first started bringing my knitting into lab I got alot of requests from the boys for knit items. The most realistic were the finger puppets. Steve wanted a sloth, but settled for a penguin finger puppet. Now he gets a stuffed penguin to keep it company. :)

Turtleneck shrug - still coming along nicely. Ribbing doesn't seem as hard as it did when I first started. I think Nate's sweater had alot to do with that. I'm slowly approaching the bind off for the shoulders. I'd better get cracking though!

It's been very busy lately with packing and travelling and moving. I'm in the last stages of unpacking/purging. I still have way more stuff than I need, but I can see my floor. And open my fridge. I finally got to have tea this morning - little steps...

You are interchangeable.
Fun, free, and into everything, you've got every
eventuality covered and every opportunity just
has to be taken. Every fiber is wonderful, and
every day is a new beginning. You are good at
so many things, it's amazing, but you can
easily lose your place and forget to show up.
They have row counters for people like you!


What kind of knitting needles are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Knit 1 purl 2

hope I don't have to frog you

The new little ditty than runs through my mind as I work on the Flower Basket Shawl on the bus. The first one around I did fine on. However shawl #2 has some issues - mostly because I was watching a movie on a plane to New York when I started it ;) Just a little distracted....But it's almost done and I don't think the mistakes are big enough to show....

I gave in and ordered a swift to make the ball-winding go faster. Thank goodness for 50% coupons as JoAnn's! I also received my scarf swap materials this week and will be casting on for the Turtleneck Shrug. Sony wrote me to say they got my camera, so hopefully I'll be back in business in the next month or so for pictures!

Still plugging away at gifts for others and scaring people on public transit everywhere. :) The guy next to me on the plane gave up as soon as I pulled out my needles :) Didn't phase the old men on the bus today though. Though that may have been due to the beer they were drinking at the time...

This weekend brings a major cleaning out of my stash...must...free up...space!

On a roll

of posting that is. I'm still bummed about my camera - still waiting on the receipt to get it repaired. I'm inching closer and closer to finishing this OSW - I'm loving how this yarn has subtle little darker and lighter areas. Part of they beauty of hand-dyed yarn.

Finally shipped my yarn off for the swap - it's a somewhat boring yarn, but I really liked the color and I already had it :) Though with my stash, that's not a suprise...

So behind!

So much has been going on lately - did my first round of yarn dyeing with Kool Aid on Saturday - I would have taken pictures but I found out my camera is broken :( A call home luckily tracked down the receipt so I can get it repaired under warranty (whew) I'm very pleased with how it all turned out though, will have to do it again soon.

Started up my friend Amy's socks using a pattern from Kim's blog - this will be my first pair of toe-up socks, so we'll see how it goes :)

Started another OSW, reorganized all my yarn into project bins (in the hopes I would be able to find things faster. In reality, I just wanted to see how much yarn I could spread on my floor. Marie the cat about died and went to heaven)

Most fun (so far), I went to San Diego with Teresa to go to the Yarn Harlot's book signing. So much fun - Teresa makes a good road trip partner and we've already started plotting an "around LA" yarn crawl. This was only the second time I'd been back to SD since Nate and I broke up, which made it a little weird. But having travelled to SD so much came in handy when tracking down food afterwards :) The Grove was a neat place - mixing of books, jewelry, and yarn (add shoes and beverages and I am moving in) Being surrounded by so many other knitters is always fun too :)

Sigh - back to work, then to group meeting. Fun stuff this research bit.

And the finally finished poncho from Weekend Knitting. Mostly pleased with it, don't know when I'll wear it here. LA isn't exactly in poncho season right now.... 

Yet another scarf - progress in depleting stash? Eh, it goes :) 

This and that

First of all, I've joined my first swap - Stitch ya neck out I'm really excited, but nervous too...should be fun.

Last night's SnB was great - showed off Asana, saw some other amazing FO's. Heard all about the Scientology trip (aka Hypocrisy with a Homebase) Something about their approach and aversion to therapy though what they put you through could qualify as therapy...well, really irks me. I have a low tolerance for hypocrites. Which makes me somewhat hypocritical...ooh, my head hurts.

Also learned about some fun blogs - Overheard in New York and Overhead in the Office. Though with yesterday's office conversation about a farm in the Northwest that caters to bestiality...well, I'm not sure I'd want to overhear any office conversations.

Finally, ran across this technique for knitting in the round (Magic loop). Though I usually do ok knitting socks and stuff, this is awfully tempting to try out. Would make my projects more transportable. Though I wouldn't be able to use these any more :(

Lots going on in the knitting arena - still a sock to be finished, the poncho, Cal scarf, BART scarf, and Clappy....and I know more projects will be started :)

Realizing you can sew snaps on to interchange straps?

Priceless

Marvelous revelation last night at JoAnn's. I'd picked out the lining for Asana and was browsing the ribbon selection. Now, I'm a huge fan of ladybugs. But the black and white with pink dots really matched.

And then I realized....

I could sew snaps into the tank and onto the ribbons to make removable straps....in other words, I could buy both ribbons :)

The other customers in the ribbon aisle weren't nearly as excited. Perhaps a little scared, but not excited...

Ribbon 2

Ribbon 1