Forget Jan, the new year is just around the corner

September is the real new year, summer ends, the weather changes, and school and work pick up again. It is the time of year when I make my resolutions and refocus on what needs to be accomplished. (Which is consequently, why I am in pain right now - stupid new exercise programme). It is also the point by which I absolutely have to have begun my Christmas knitting, or things like last years - finished two hours after Amy left- senario.

I am doing much better this year. I have projects planned (for 3 friends - who never read my knitting blog so I can post all I want) and my sister (who is in the army and has better things to do than scope out Christmas and birthday present spoilers on a knitting blog she doesn't know exists).

Plans are as follows:

*3 shawls for the girls in Sea of No Cares, California Dreaming, and something I haven't dyed yet, because Boston and St. John's didn't work out. Sea of No Cares Shawl is cast on and 1/4 finished - if only I could keep up this pace, I'd be done no sweat.

*I'll be knitting a Marvin doll (from Hitchhikers Guide - see here - amazing what you can find on Ravelry!) for Leah's birthday

*She'll be getting a Dr. Who scarf for Christmas, and possibly I'll use the Boston and St. John's to knit her something, socks maybe or even a stuffed animal of some description).

I also have to finish my Socks for Solider's socks (the legs of both socks are done, and I'm through the heel and gusset on one, hopefully it'll be done in the next week or so) - NTS: these socks are huge!! (oh, and the socks for Nonna...)

I've also bought yarn to make my Coachella, which I have been resisting casting on, though as it will be quick I'm sorely tempted. I may even be able to do a smallish size, given that the comments seem to be that it runs big.

Spinning... sort of...

Wednesday, I finally went and did it. I made kind of a mess of it. The first try (on the pencil in the picture) is really thick and parts of it took no twist at all. The second one (on the spindle) was slightly better, at least parts of it begin to approximate a useful thickness. It is a mess, but it was fun, and fairly simple.

My biggest problem (ergo question) is how one makes a smooth transition at the bottom of a batt when drafting (ie. the way I was going about it the fiber basically needs to be pulled out in strips and then attached - which is not the way it looks in any of the books!!)

My other problem is that I'm not drafting it thin enough, which will just be a matter of practice and chutzpha, because it is already drafted pretty darn thin and I just need to trust that it won't all fall apart.

Any recommendations or words of advice?

Also - I've frogged the first Christmas shawl - I didn't like how the colours were working, it was not the right feel, so I'll do up another colourway and try again. I do like the yarn, however, so I'll be saving it for something else, maybe socks for a guy.

I've cast on the second Christmas shawl, and it is looking really good. I worked on it a bit on the steps of the library at WLU yesterday and a woman, who teaches in my old department - but even when I was there I don't think ever knew who I was (*this is actually rather amusing, since our dept was very small and I was really well known, not to mention I carried all the graduating prizes they could bestow*) - walked by and commented (apparently she used to knit Icelandic sweaters, but doesn't have time to knit now).

Last night I knit a pair of Fetching, in a lovely blue, they will be given as a gift today (3 cheers for simple projects and stash!!)

During dinner, or well, started before, simmered during, I dyed up some more of the Knit Picks bare worsted I had in my stash (last one, guess I'll be needing to order some more....) in a mossy green. I'm going to knit a pair of Dashing for a friend. I was hoping to get started last night as it was super sunny and hot when I hung the yarn up - but I went downstairs for a few minutes and it rained :( - so now it is almost dry, and hopefully I'll get it started today.

Whoa...

The wedding is over - it was wonderful:

Monday- 8-10hrs of dyeing yarn!!

There are many many pictures here are a few:

Sea of No Cares colourway (there are 4 skeins)

Boston and St. John's (also 4)

California Dreaming (4 more)

I also finished my hand-dyed yarn swap yarn too.

I'm exhausted.

Whee - yarny goodness

It arrived, FINALLY!!

Those two outstanding yarn orders of mass proportions - they got here on the same day.

See ->

(photographed next to the file of stuff for the article I'm writing and season 5 of X-files - for which I only have one episode left to watch).

There is the 20 balls of lanett from Ram Wools out in Winnipeg.

And 10 skeins of Knit Picks bare

superwash fingering weight.

12 of the lanett are for Christmas knitting (as in I know what they are for, vs the others which might end up Christmas knitting but I'm not sure as what...), they are going to be hand-dyed and made into shawls (3shawls x4balls) so I played with my swift for the first time and skeined all 12 last night for dyeing next week (most of this week coming will be wedding related, as one of my girl-friends is getting married). I'm hoping to find some merino/tencel on our yarn crawl on Thrusday and dye that at the same time for the Hand-dyed yarn swap, if I can't I'll either use more of the lanett or the KP for that I'm thinking that on that crawl we also need to hit the bead store(s) and the dye store.

Pattern writing is hard!!

Designing the pattern is a piece of cake compared to writing it up (and then making it meet style sheets).

My pattern just needs a name now, which I can't solicit help for because I can't talk about the nature of the project. *sigh*

Yesterday I was looking for an old text book, and found a box of yarn I forgot I had...

Xfiles and Sock Combat

My first BBS is now into the gusset decreases. (Three cheers for the YH's guidelines, because my pattern left ALOT to be desired - as in it is really more like confused guidelines than anything resembling useful instructions... but the sock is turning out a sock so oh well).

It took a full ball to get through the leg, the heel and the first 8 or so rows of the gusset, I've cast on the second one and am hoping to get to the same place -yeah right- and that 1 ball will be enough for both feet - which is a whole helluva lot of hoping...

My shawl is still no where near done, not much farther ahead - probably because I've been living and breathing these socks for the last few days. But I've discovered that the xfiles mak excellent sock knitting back ground (so apparently does pre-season football...)

Pretty good, for a Wednesday

* I made a dent in the annoying little things that have to be done to my paper, (the plan is to add a wee section before bed and then have nought but a trip to the library and editing to do).

* My Socks for Soldiers kit arrived today and I cast on my very first pair of Big Black Socks. I've been thinking about doing this for awhile, and finally got around to it at the end of my vacation a couple of weeks ago.

- it also came with 4 stitch markers; a cute little monkey ruler thingy, a couple of plastic darning needles, and some really really flexible plastic dpns (I tried using them and it made me feel twitchy -weird- so I switched back to my bamboos).

* I played more on Ravelry. I now have several things I'd like to try.

QUESTION: as cotton shrinks, what can I use or how do I modify (ie. how much bigger do I make it) if I'm trying to knit a hat (not for myself that will definately get washed hot) that calls for cotton?

* I had a couple more adventures on Lime and Violet's KnitWars.

Tuesday... right?

Yesterday was a holiday Monday, so that makes it Tuesday, right?

I'm trying to make sure and work for at least 3 to 4 hours a day on my article. I think most of it is coherent now, so it is just editing and annotating (which I really really hate).

I read Deathly Hallows yesterday, I was satisfied (and mostly right).

I have now finished the number of repeats for the shawl, but my guage must be waaaay off because it says it is supposed to be 87" and I've got 51" - I guess I'll do another 4 repeates and take it to 15 and see where it is at then. :( I was so looking forward to being able to block it and photograph it and tuck it away until it is time to give it a Christmas :(

*sigh* Must. get. back. to. article.

(But I would rather play with the ravelry pattern library...)

I'm in!!

I got my invite, it is awesome!!!

I got my name LadyOctavia. I am a happy camper (I just wish that today wasn't the day we have 70 people over so I could sit and play with it all day).

10 people!!!

TEN PEOPLE!! Only ten people in front of me!!!

WAHHHH

Found you!
You signed up on June 7, 2007
You are #7610 on the list.
80 people are ahead of you in line.
14790 people are behind you in line.
33% of the list has been invited so far

It's been like this since the day before yesterday... antsy is right, I'm doing a very good impression of a 5 year old that has to good to the bathroom or a 7 year old trying to wake up dad on Christmas morning.

Oh, that was really not the wisest thing ever...

:D

Knitpicks has superwash fingering in stock again - or they did until I placed my order... maybe not anymore... .... ....


Also, my swift arrived. It is cute metal and blue vinyl and made in Japan and called a 'reeling machine' the instructions are the cutest thing ever. Now if only my yarn would arrive to allow me to skein it....

Also - anyone know off hand whether white/white-ish/natural merino-tencel fingering weight is to be found at any of the shops in Toronto?

Cottage Knitting

So I've finished the Fawkes, and here they are. They are in Koigu, which was nice to knit with, but I think I'm missing something since I'm at a loss to know what is so special about it (please don't hit me...). Like I said, they turned out a little short and next time I'll make them longer.

and I taught my sister to knit! And here is her first project, she is knitting Fetching in some yarn I hand-dyed.

So much knitting, so little vacation

But I am making the most of it.

Fawkes is done. I like the pattern, but the leg ended up a touch on the short side. If I make them again I'll add at least one repeat of the chart, 4 just wasn't enough for me.

The thing I can't talk about is also done.

I'm thinking tomorrow might be a good day to cast on the Clessidra (or I could do some work... nay!!)

Vacation knitting

Tomorrow my family leaves for vacation, a week at a rented cottage.

So I've been preping and packing all the knitting I will need.

Thus far I've got:
* my shawl, which I'd love to finish
* the Red Carpet Convertible, which I need to finish for the july KAL at Sexy Knitters Club
* a random hand towel in elann's Camila for testing that yarn with
* the first of a pair of knee socks for Nonna (I'll leave the other one until she's tried the first one on)
* something I'm thinking I might try submitting to Knitty and therefore can't talk about...
* a pair of Fawkes to be knit with some Koigu from my stash
* a pair of Clessidra to be knit with the green below
* and I've also thrown in a ball of Austermann to maybe try the Monkey socks with

oh and my little sister wants to knit a pair of Fetching, so we'll be using some leftovers from my stash for that - which I dyed red for her earlier this week.

Yesterday and today I've done some last minute dyeing.

Yesterday was this for the thing I can't talk about, the colour is irrelevant to the project in many ways, I just wanted to see what would happen if I combined Tropical Punch with Cherry:






And today I did up this, for my Clessidra socks, it is Emerald Green with some Jet Black of the Jacquard dyes, I need to find my sister to help me wind it...

Also: I broke down and ordered a swift, which should be here when I get home and the fabulous Captain will hopefully bring me my very own ball winder when she comes up next month. So now that I've gotten pretty good at winding respectable cakes I won't have to do it myself anymore - go figure!

(*Pets VISA and promises to be good in the fall). I may also have ordered 20 balls of off white superwash to dye up for various things, including some Christmas knitting.... and decided that come the fall I'll order the necessary wool to knit my sister the Dr Who scarf she has long desired...

um.... look isnt' it pretty!!
[EDIT] After posting the above I walked to the mail box and found...



fashion accessories from Australia!!!

And now the After Dark Nightie is finis! The blue doesn't match exactly, but it isn't horrible. The red I think will match the Euro-flax exactly, the purple is beautiful, but very dark and the olive is quite bright. I'm even thinking that maybe the clear printed ones might be an nice alternative. But I am pleased with them over all. (They are from Strap Me Up, and the girl there was friendly and prompt, so if you are looking for something... NB: When I ordered shipping to Canada was $10AUD, so you might want to order a few things at once).

Here is the finished Nightie, straps attached:

varia

Socks - they are going to be knee highs for my nonna (bed socks since her feet get cold), I dyed the yarn myself and am quite happy with the way it has turned out.

And - the needles -I made them too!! How awesome is that?!

And I just finished convincing a friend to try the two in one socks - Rock on!!

Gaaahhh!

Kristen, your package is in the mail!

I've been AWOL for awhile, as I am the maid of honour made of awesome. I hope to be back to knitting and blogging soon.

Victory!

It is done! Well, the knitting and the seaming is done. I'm trying to figure out what I should do about straps as the only ones I can find are white and that would look horrible on my lovely blue handknit. Suggestions would be much appreciated. (I'm looking into http://www.strapmeup.com.au/ - they have neat stuff, but I'm not sure what shipping prices/turn around times are like). It feels silly to order one bra strap to be sent all the way from Australia.

Pictures:

Back pinned down.

front and back

seamed!!!

detail of lower edge lace

detail top edge lace

I'm going to cast on the Red Carpet Convertible tonight while I watch movies with my lil' sis - Kowalski (my camo goknit pouch) is all loaded up with the various necessities and the pattern is printed out. Tomorrow the knitting will take a backseat to all things Parzival for a little while.

I got my new printer so yeah, I can print patterns (and other stuff too, but mostly patterns). My blanket chart looks so cool all printed out.

HSKS Trivia 1

Trivia

1. "What happens if I wave my wand and nothing happens?" "Throw it away and punch him on the nose." Which two people are talking?
Harry and Ron

2."If he raided our house he'd have to put himself under arrest." Who say this?
Ron Weasley

3. When sitting on the wall next to Professor Dumbledore at the beginning of the book, who does Professor McGonagall bet was the wizard responsible for the shooting stars seen by Muggles over Kent?
Dedalus Diggle

4. Known by the students as Nearly Headless Nick, what was Nick's actual name?
Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington

5. When venturing into the Dark Forest with Hagrid for their detention, who is the first centaur Harry and Hermione see?
Ronan

6. We know that Parvati Patil was sorted into Gryffindor house, but what house was her twin Padma sorted into?
Ravenclaw

7. What colour do the flames turn when you use Floo powder?
Emerald green

8. What colour tie was Cornelius Fudge wearing when he came to take Hagrid to Azkaban?
Scarlet

9. After running away from the Dursley's, Harry took up a room at the Leaky Cauldron. What number room did he stay in?
11

10. While Ron, Hermione, and his other classmates are in Hogsmeade, Harry stops in for a chat with Professor Lupin. What did Lupin tell Harry he had just taken delivery of for their next lesson?
Grindylows

Picture Scavenger Hunt
The pictures can either be posted on your blog or you can link to them from your blog.

Harry's Aunt
Whomping Willow
Cornelius Fudge
Buckbeak
Emma Watson

Kool

I've finished the back of the nightie, and started the front. So (*touch wood*) I might actually get it done in time - even in lots of time.

Yesterday I taught a friend how to knit, she was very persevering and now has a couple of cms of ribbing (well, not even ribbing but ribbing) for a pair of socks - as she got bored with flat knitting.

I'm sitting in the kitchen waiting for the timer to go off so I can remove the yarn from the dye pot and set up the next one. I'm dyeing 3 skeins of fingering - two superwash and one not. I'm going to try to do one in Ravenclaw to throw in with my HSKS, but it turns out that the one dye I was going to use which comes in a blue package is in fact red (?!) and so I'll be doing that in a mixture of the acid dyes I had in my stash. The non-superwash is going to be green and orange (kool aid); the other superwash is in the pot now and is purple, pink, orange (kool aid) and natural. The purple looks like it will be quite patchy. I am very slowly learning things that I should be able to realize before I do them with each dye attempt (like you need ample space for the yarn if you want it all to have colour...).

The weather is nice though, and I've set the drying rack up out in the back so I'm hoping that it won't take as long for things to dry as they did last time when I had vinegar scented yarn in my shower for ages.

I'm hoping that the self-stripping thing will work again this time, I tried to replicate the conditions from last time, but I altered the stripes a bit so I don't know how it will work out.

Also, I need a *&%^*%*&*(-ing swift. I think my next knitpicks order is going to include one.