Not dead yet

I'm not dead.  My computer, on the other hand...R.I.P. little laptop.  You served me faithfully for six years, needing only a hard drive and CD drive change three years ago.  But alas, it is cheaper to replace you with a desktop than to kit you out again.

My new computer should be here today (!!!!!!), and boy, do I have some fun new toys to show all  three or so of you who read this!

In which I learn some things

Lessons from knitting:
1. Negative ease can be my friend. Being 5'3" means even size small sweaters sometimes swamp me. (Alliteration is, apparently, also my friend.)
2. Short-row bust shaping is also my friend, even if it means putting a mauve stripe where I would just as soon not have a mauve stripe. (If I had to do it again, I'd start the short rows as soon as I took off the stitches for the sleeves and use two balls of yarn to avoid the giant mauve stripe.)
Pattern: Wicked (although I misplaced the pattern halfway through, hence the not-quite-matching sleeve widths that I need to redo)
Yarn: Patons Soy Wool Stripes in Natural Earth - about 770 yards (!)
Needles: US 7
3. Entrelac is a little bit like magic, especially with striping yarn.
Pattern: Quant
Yarn: a partial ball of Noro Silk Garden, color 226 (I think) that I got in a guild swap
Needles: US 5, because this pattern makes a pretty big headband

4. Yarn makes a great Christmas present; so do gift cards to purchase yarn.
From the top: 5 skeins of Malabrigo worsted in black, 5 skeins of Malabrigo worsted in apple green (thank you, Uncle D and Aunt S for the gift card!), 2 skeins of Plymouth Happy Feet in a red/brown multi that will be great for non-stockinette socks, 1 (of 2) skeins of Plymouth Happy Feet in a blue/green/red multi that is more muted than the colors suggest (thank you, Grandmother!)

5. If you give your sister a coupon for hand-knit socks for Christmas, she will pick out a) your favorite yarn from your stash, b) the lightest-weight (and therefore longest-to-knit) sock yarn, and c) a pattern prone to dropping stitches and yarn that, when dropped, will run approximately 1 inch per second. Oh well. It'll be an adventure. Fearless Knitting, right?
Yarn: Actual Size Creations in Rorschach
Pattern: Conwy, from Nancy Bush's Knitting on the Road (at least I've made these before, so it's going pretty quickly)

The pretty, the cute, and the pointy objects

I promised you pretty. Here is the pretty!


This is a scarf knitted from the edging unraveled from a cashmere/silk blend thrift store sweater. The pattern is a basic lily of the valley lace pattern, but I replaced the nupps with the beads. They're sort of a dark jewel-toned rainbow assortment. I love it!


Now, some cute. Remember me writing about Eight Ball the llama? Well, when he was sheared this summer, I brought back the fleece to give to some spinners from the knitting guild. Anna was kind enough to give me a bit of two-ply yarn from my buddy the llama, and so I knit it into a wee sock ornament to give to my grandmother for Christmas. I crocheted a little snowflake and sewed it on to give it a bit more decorative feel. I think it's pretty cute. I hope Grandmother likes it!


Today, I got off work a couple hours early, and I went thrift shopping. I really lucked out at one of the stores. These antique knitting needles were only 49 cents! There are four nine-inch size 17 (1.4 mm, also known to US knitters as 000) needles. I wonder who used to knit with them. Whoever used them must have had super-sturdy hands, because these puppies are SHARP.

For pretty

About two years ago, my grandmother gave me two teapots for my birthday. One was delicately ornamented blue and white bit of hand-painted china. It looked like something that Elizabeth Bennett would have used to pour Mr. Darcy a cup of Earl Grey. Grandmother had taped a note on it that said, "For pretty."

The other was a solid tan and brown teapot. It isn't the most beautiful thing I've ever seen, but somehow it's endearing in its relative plainness. Its note said, "For everyday." And I do use it almost every day.

I've realized that most of my knitting lately has been in the "For everyday" category. I've been knitting to stay warm, especially since until this evening, I had no heat in my car. And in case you were wondering, 26 degrees is COLD. I've been coming home with stiff, numb hands every night, even with gloves. On the plus side, having a cold car gives me an opportunity to wear more of my hand-knits - almost all of them. Simultaneously. On the con side, I haven't been knitting as much "For pretty." So that needed to change. It's blocking right now. Here's a snippet.

A polite request

To: The gnomes that live in my room and hide my stuff
From: A frustrated knitter

Dear Sir/Madam/Top Gnome/Whatever:
It has come to my attention that you have apprehended the knitting pattern I was about to start. Normally, this would have been tolerated for a few days. Yes, there are certainly other things I could knit. I understand that the holidays are upon us, and work is especially rushed and stressful. But was that really necessary just when I finally got gauge with my lovely yarn? I respectfully request that you GIVE IT BACK ALREADY.

Sincerely,
The human whose room this in fact IS, and don't you forget it!

Postscript, several hours later:
AHA! Thought you were clever, did you, hiding that pattern behind the books? In the future, please limit your scavenging activity to the pile of Red Heart Ickrylic in the far corner of the closet.

Thanks,
The Management.

Sweater, revisited

Like I said in my last post, fall is here to stay. (I hope. Now that I've typed that, watch us have an Indian Summer at Thanksgiving.)

Anyways, that meant that last weekend was spent hauling out all the cold-weather clothes, including this one, which you may remember:
It's the Cable-Down Raglan that I knit last year out of Patons Classic Wool. I wore it to work yesterday, and as you can see (maybe), it's held up pretty well. But there's something I didn't like about it. Somehow, it sags in the armpits. I couldn't figure out what the problem was - did I do too many raglan increases for the arms? According to the pattern, I did the right thing. My gauge swatch was right on. It wasn't my favorite thing I'd ever knitted, but I wore it like a mother wears the paper crown her kid made for her, even if it looks a bit like a cross between a brontosaurus and a platter of wilting lettuce. It may be an imperfect sweater, but it's MY imperfect sweater.

Well, when I was pulling it on yesterday, I had an epiphany.

The sweater is TOO BIG.

As in four inches too big.

So I have a sweater that's a size or two too big. Oh well. I'll keep wearing it, because it is MINE, yes preciousssss...but I may re-knit it in a smaller size.

And yes, I know - I should have washed my gauge swatch. I'm horrible about not washing my gauge swatches.

We had a very special visitor to our deer feeder yesterday morning.

It's the White Stag! We haven't been able to tell if this is an albino or a white deer. Whatever he is, he's pretty gorgeous! He practically glows when he's out at the deer feeder, and that's saying something when you think about the red Oklahoma dirt he lives in. We didn't try to catch him to see if he would grant us wishes, though!

A very delayed post

Fall is finally here! Time for some serious knitting!

This is the back of the Estes Vest from IK Fall 08. I'm knitting it from Lamb's Pride Bulky, which is quite a change after knitting socks for a while! It works up quickly into a soft, plushy fabric. I've finished the back and one of the fronts, but I may rip out the front bit. The pattern has pockets in front, and I'm not sure I want to do them, since they'll only be about three inches deep. I really don't mind the idea of ripping out a front of a vest as much as, say, half a sock. I knitted the entire front (I think) while watching a BBC miniseries - Wives and Daughters, which I wholeheartedly recommend! (Think Jane Austen, but with a bit more action and character development.)


This is Zetor, a triangular shawl/scarf knitted in Noro Kureyon Sock, knit on size 6 needles. It was a rather fast knit, as shawls go. The lace pattern is quite easy to memorize once you knit a couple of repeats - I think I did seven? (There is an error in the edging chart, though - knitters, ye be warned.) I ran out of Kureyon at stitch #221 of 279, but thankfully, I had a scrap of recycled wool/silk that matched perfectly - crisis averted! Normally, I'd knit lace from a more solid-colored yarn, but I needed something colorful to go over a grey dress I was going to wear to a wedding.

And speaking of a wedding...it was FANTASTIC. One of my best friends got married in Kansas on November 8. It was a wonderful weekend of watching my dear friend get married to a totally awesome guy who's crazy about her and hanging out with old friends I hadn't seen in ages.


This wedding also marked a first for me - the first time I caught the bouquet! Actually, I didn't so much catch it as pick it up when it landed behind me. However, the heartbreakingly adorable 3-year-old flower girl nabbed my flowers when I set them down to cut the cake. (That's her holding the flowers.) Oh well, she'll enjoy them more than I would.