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.

sort of like swatching..

Today I worked on my bag for the swap, it is all done but for a fixture I need to pick up on Tuesday (when the stores reopen).

Since I was drafting the pattern myself, I had to go search the house for a geometry set (you'd think with all the math being done around here that wouldn't be hard). Right angles confirmed I made a mock up out of an old shirt that didn't work out quite right. It was definitely worth doing the mock up (which I almost never do), it enabled me to work out what kind of seams to use where - though I did have to make a few more modifications on the final project. Then I took out the fabric for the project, (why did I buy 1.5m of it when I hardly needed a foot....). I learned some interesting things while working with the actual bag material:

1- I like natural fibers best even in sewing
2- fray check will actually re-solidify on this stuff and peel off
3- circles suck (well I figured that out with the mock up, but they really suck with slippery, synthetics)

But the bag looks lovely - though I'm not sure if I should/am allowed to post pictures if it is for a swap... I'll put some up eventually. And now I have enough material to make another 6 at least.

Anyway, back to the nightie I go, I'm nearly to the waist shaping.

Question and pictures

Would anyone find these interesting? Or am I just going crazy from the yarn and bead fumes?

Since I'm doing the picture thing:

More stitch markers (with the dowel rods in the background)

The nightie in progress

softness in a skein

{update} Since posting the above, I made the following*:

US size 2 (they are 2.75mm)

US size 1 (they are about 2.25mm)

See Em's blog.

Wool gathering

Today was a good day - as most of it was spent shopping or knitting (and I finished Iter, bonus).

I went to Lettuce Knit to pick up some of the necessaries for a couple of projects and my HSKS2. I noticed a red in the Euroflax I didn't see before, I think that is what I want to use when I do one for myself. I also picked up some Mini Maiden (half silk, half wool) it is soooo soft. I don't know what I'm going to do with it, I'll probably stash it and then collect a few more in matching colours then maybe do a shawl or some such.

My next stop was Lee Valley, where I got dowel rods to make into needles (and a book on the navy). I am ever so excited to try it, I love the idea of being as involved in the total knitting process as possible so making the tools ranks way up there on the 'how cool is that' scale. [It remains to be seen if I can execute, but I look forward to trying anyway]. BTW: that store is amazing! It was a very dangerous place to go into, I'm terribly lucky I didn't leave with plans for a roll top desk or a boat...

Question: could pen blanks be used to make effective spindle shafts?

Later I went back to Michael's for a few things and hit up Fabricland for bag making supplies - I think ours might be closing. After that I found a few things I still lacked at Zellers.

The rest of the night was knitting- I've finally got started knitting the nightie from Mason-Dixon Knitting. I am very much enjoying it, I'm nearly finished the lace at the bottom for the back. (Which is a good thing since I need to have it done soon, very soon...)

HSKS Questionnaire

And it begins! My first swap and swap-y (-ish?) stuff.

1. What Hogwarts house have you been sorted into? Ravenclaw

2. List your favorite double-point needle brands, including size and length. Or would you prefer circulars? um, I hadn't thought about it. I've been using clover bamboo ones and the knitpicks ones of late. I guess I like the bamboo better, but I'm not terribly fussy. I usually use either 2.25mm or 2.75mm (sometimes 3mm) at 6inches long.

3. Would you like to try a new brand needle? If so, which brand? Size? Length? I've been thinking about trying some of the other woods. I like to knit with something between 2.25mm and 2.75mm for socks, and probably 6 inches long.

4. If you are a RAVENCLAW, do you prefer the colors in the film or the book? Do you have a strong preference? I don't have really strong preference, but if pressed I like the movie colours better.

5. Do you have any allergies? Nope (though I may claim tarantulas, liver or squash if cornered)

CHOKE strikes

The Yarn Harlot has described the 'group' called CHOKE (Cultural humiliation of knitters everywhere) and this week I discovered that one of my cousins is a charter member.

First off cousins- I am the oldest in my family (of 7) and of all the cousins (15 total on dad's side). Sam is the next oldest girl (at 18). She is a dear creature with whom I usually get on quite well, so I was surprised to learn that she would align herself with such an organization.

Normally she ignores my knitting, but since that is what most people do I didn't think much of it. But this week we went on a shopping expedition, Sam, two of my sisters and I. My family is used to me knitting, pretty much everywhere, and I think they get as much of a kick out of the strange reactions of bystanders in the mall when I walk by knitting socks and chatting with whomever I'm with as I do. But then we are generally unphased by gawking since it is a fairly standard reaction from people when we tell them either : a. there are 7 of us; b. we were homeschooled; c. that we nicknamed the youngest Bertie after our favourite Wodehouse character, or d. that L. is heading off to the Royal Military College or A. has diabetes and celiacs or I am doing a doctorate in Old Norse.... you get the picture. Sam however was not only phased, she was positively distressed and practically tried to forbid me from it (which as I'm the oldest - and bigger, stronger, and smarter- I'd like to see her actually try).

My aunt was over on the weekend, as we hosted Nonno's 75th birthday celebration, and was laughing about just how stressed Sam was over the whole 'ordeal' of being seen with me knitting in public (BTW - on this trip I only knit while we sat in the food court and then while she tried something on at American Eagle).

All I can say, it that while I fully understood that CHOKE was out there, I never expected it so close to home. I guess it just shows that they are everywhere, that knitter's need to be clam in the face of their bigotry, patient and charitable in our responses, supportive of one another, and appreciative of the non-knitters who support us in the face of such a pervasive antagonism.

Dishcloths and beads

First off: Tomorrow is the last day for sign-ups at the Hogwarts Sock Kit Swap so go sign up!

So yesterday I finally got the car and made it to Michaels - which in my humble opinion is generally useless for knitting - but it is not bad for beads and baking stuff and it carries Bernat craft cotton, which most real yarn stores do not carry.

Bernat is wonderful for dishcloths, so I picked up a whack of it, in solids and some matching variegated colours and started making my first Ballband dishcloths from the Mason Dixon Knitting book. I have one done already (well except for weaving in the ends) and another more than half done. I'm thinking I'll now start a Bernat stash for the sake of dishcloths...

But mostly I wanted to get to Michael's for beads and assorted bead related things. For you see, the HSKS kit includes stitch markers and I figured that was the perfect excuse for me to make some. I've never used fancy ones myself - usually just plain jump rings or the little plastic disks, but I'm always game to try something new. And I now have - um- 6 sets of either 6 or 4 markers, and plans for more. I made them in Ravenclaw colours (see previous post about why I'm in Ravenclaw) and Slytherin (because that is my real house) and purple (because my birthstone is amethyst). I have plans for ones in Gryffindor and Huffelpuff colours too, but I need to get back to Michael's first. I'll try to make that trip tonight or on the weekend, and pick up some more stuff because my OC personality has decided this is fun and therefore I need to make dozens and dozens of them.

(fun and pretty)

(and apparently I was having a problem with the focus....)

Socks socks and more... socks

I finished my first knee high! (also my first garment of my own design to be completed - if a sock can be said to be of my design....) It fits and is - amazingly- knee high. Now I need to knit the other one and then I'll do the post pictures and put the pattern into some semblance of sense and post that too. (Writing up patterns = way harder than designing and knitting it in the first place). Unfortunately it is June and the humidity has hit ergo I have little desire to wear socks at all let alone knee highs.

I've also started knitting the Chevron socks from elann.com. The initial cast on is a bitch, but it seems to be knitting up nicely. I'm using some self patterning blues and white that I had in my stash (the selection of this yarn being inspired by the next section). This is my second toe up sock, the first having been the test knee high (which is why it didn't have a mate). I'm not sure how I feel about this method - I don't think it was the best for me for knee highs -shapely thighs do not accommodate dpns (and I don't have enough circs in small/same sizes to knit them that way). I like top down, but I was stubbornly determined that I would not let the pattern defeat me. So I managed the toe shaping and learned how to make left and right leaning increases in the process. Anyway I'm liking the pattern and since fit beyond the foot is not my issue on this sock I don't think the toe up is going to matter much going forward.

(Here's what the sock looks like:)




And the last socks - I went and signed up for the Hogwart's Sock Kit Swap 2. I heard about it while listening to the SSK podcast (BTW - those things need warning labels the number of KALs etc. that I've wanted to join and yarn/roving to buy is just scary!) I joined, I am excited. I get to make up a package of goodies centered around sock knitting goodness and connect with other knitters. This makes me happier than it ought to, but it's been (and promises to continue to be) a stressy summer so I figured why not have the fun anyway. In order to participate I had to first be sorted, there were 5 quizzes listed on the side bar for that sort of thing, I did them all, I was sorted into all 4 houses!! I went with Ravenclaw, since it won the tie breaker - hence the blue based socks-, but I found it terribly amusing. FYI- if you are interested sign-ups are open until June 21.

When you can't knit...

you can always listen to someone else talk about it.

As I've been doing a marathon of RA hours I've been listening to knitting podcasts - lots and lots of podcasts.

4 of my favourites are:
*Lime and Violet
*Sticks and Strings
*SSK
*Knitters Uncensored

Other randomness:
*Check this out, I totally don't have time for it but... (once I hear back I'll post more extensively)
*Also, I heard about Ravelry, I'm now on a waiting list - it looks like fun
*I'm almost to the heel of the first knee high - not sure if it might be a bit too tight...
*I bought Kool-aid, I feel like a 6 year old - so excited, there will be sock yarn dyeing with fruity smells (vs. vinegar-y ones) soon

Knee highs!!

So I spent knit in public day knitting at home :( Though many people saw me doing so, as we were hosting a BBQ for my father's staff.

I finished knitting a test version of a knee high. Since I can't just follow a pattern on one because I have... um... shapely calves... so there is need for modification, but I also have gauge issues so I didn't know how much would be required. Ergo a test sock, which is done and now I know (and knowing is half the battle, Go Joe!!... wait, sorry, channeling my childhood...). I also tried out a couple of pattern options and used up some really really old sock yarn - bought before I understood about the wonder of knitting socks (or much about knitting in general - about oh, 7 years ago), but apparently I had decent taste when set loose in a real yarn store. The test sock, as a result, looks really funny. But it fits and is a sock so, go it!

Things I've learned:
*It is possible to memorize a lace pattern and to understand where to place what
*counting to seven is hard (or can be when also talking to people etc and trying to mentally keep track of rows)
*this merino/silk is really really nice to work with and the pattern is showing up so much better on the natural coloured wool than in the crazy variegated stuff
*writing out the pattern is hard! Trying to explain is so much harder than just doing! (Though working out the math so the pattern centres properly makes things much nicer)

Question:
*What does one do with a pattern once it is designed and knit?
*Who does one tell?
*How do you make the world understand how important and brilliant it is that there be a decrease on needle one and an increase on needle three to create a centre for the lace pattern and the decreases while facilitating the cool ribbing pattern on needles 2 and 4?

Now - bed
Tomorrow - Iter (my sock will just have to wait! *sniff*)