Stupid Yarn, Stupid Brain

I have become slightly obsessed with knitting a sweater. Now, not just any sweater mind, but this one.  I want to make it out of the grey cascade I have, minus the stripes. It is the middle of summer here, currently over 90 degrees, and I want to make a sweater. Even better, I want to make a sweater using yarn I currently can't find. The Cascade is in a sealed plastic bag somewhere in my bedroom, but where I dunno. I got busy organizing my closet to get rid of clothes I can't wear anymore (almost all my wardrobe) and things have gotten buried. It's my own fault for not putting it in with the rest of the stash.

I know that part of the reason I'm so obsessed with this sweater is that I'm afraid that I'm not going to be able to manage anything complicated on Tuesday.  I know I'll need to knit, and I'm starting to think my best bet may be to grab that gorgeous cotton yarn and do a tank top of some kind. Hmm, should find tape measure as I can't remember what my bust measurement is, and guessing would probably not end well.  (I think I'm 37, 33, 42 but I've also dropped a jean size since my last measurement so Merlin knows what it is now).

I have several other projects I want to do, like Bella Paquita in the purple Calmer I have, but I can't get that darn sweater out of my head. It's not like I don't have enough stuff on the needles, after all my current WIPs are....
Versatility in Malabrigo. I've given up on the shawl I was making with it, as the book has vanished into the aether, and instead am making this. I've been wanting to for a while and thanks to the weight loss, I could actually wear it.
(no, no picture of this, sadly. It doesn't really transport well)

the Raha Scarf from Knitted Lace of Estonia. This may or may not stay with me. It may end up as a gift for mom, I haven't decided yet. I started it Saturday and am already on my 5th repeat. I am loving it, and it's just what I need right now, easy but not boring. If only I hadn't decided to try straight needles again with it. I now remember why I stopped knitting with straights. I always get the yarn snagged on a needle end during purl rows and it's annoying.

And the hibernating stuff...
Ice Christmas socks: I'm on the second heel flap and haven't touched them in months.
That other pair of socks: yeah, haven't even gotten one leg done
Nubby Trinity: Last worked on during Knit in Public day. I've gotten distracted by other shawls, ones that are not in lace weight.
The Grey Lehe: I need to find the notebook that tells me where in the pattern I am.

But hey, there has been some finished stuff!
First off, the Verdant Rose Shawl. It's an Evelyn Clark pattern, found in Knitter's Book of Wool.  I love Evelyn Clark's patterns with a passion. Love, love love!

This was made using one skein of hand-dyed sock yarn.  I didn't quite have enough, so I added a very simple crochet edging in some left-over lace-weight, the same lace-weight I used for my first lace shawl. The color isn't quite accurate, it's more blue-green than shown, but none of the pictures I got really captured the color right, so I went with the one that showed the lace best.

And the Ink Shawl. Again, sock yarn (knit picks actually), knit on size 9 needles. I ran out of yarn again, so most of the border is missing. I also did it in garter stitch rather than stockinette, mostly cause I knew that way I wouldn't have to fret about curling.

It looks kinda odd because I wrapped it around the tree to show the lace pattern. I've yet to block it. And yes, that is a stray puppy hair right in the middle.  Pattern is the Fountain Pen Shawl, from Interweave Knits, and I did 5 repeats of lace instead of 10 and it's quite big and likely to grow once blocked.

Maybe I'll just grab that big ball of green laceweight I have and start making Old Shale from Knitting Traditions? It's garter most of the way.

Stitches South. It's a dangerous place

Yes, I am fail blogger. I know.  But I just got back from Stitches South (note, post was postponed till proper yarn pictures could be taken, thus explaining why this is being posted 2 days after Stitches South ended, and 4 days after I actually went) and felt I should warn anyone ever considering going to a stitches event... it is a dangerous, dangerous place.

Imagine, tons and tons of yarn in an enclosed space.  There are yarn fumes, lots of them.  There are gorgeous handdyed skeins, heavily discounted skeins (and bags!), spinning wheels, nifty knitting notions, books, handknit scarves, shawls, and just about anything you can think of that involves fiber.

I went in with a budget of only the cash I had in my pocket.  I came out with...
One skein Miss Babs "Yummy" handpainted sock yarn in color Mallard Var.

One skein Acero from Brooks Farm Yarns, color ?  variegated green/blue/purple  (again sock yarn)

One addi lace turbo size 2 circular
and that was all my cash

But I did have my credit card and well, 2000 yards (10 skeins) of Araucania Pomaire cotton yarn color 19 was just too pretty and 2000 yards for 54 bucks!  That's a shawl and a summer top right there.

So yes, budget FAIL.  But I did the math and a top and a shawl for that cash, I'd pay about that or more in a shop and this way I get the pleasure of knitting it.

In other news, the skin issues continue.  I can't knit laceweight yarn right now, so instead I've been working on the Ice Christmas socks and cast on a new shawl.  I have decided on a new crafting goal though... one thing done a month.  Hopefully that will help me keep my WIPs from exploding.

Pictures of WIPs

Sadly, I appear to have developed a rash/blister thing on the thumb and first two fingers of my right hand which pretty much prevents me from knitting.  But I did get pretty pictures of WIPs, so I will share those...

Here we see the Nubby Trinity shawl in closeup.  Look at those colors.  So pretty.  It's sitting on a brown pillow to really show them off.

The Trinity shawl in a tree, which really shows a) how big it is and b) how airy it is.  Laceweight on size 10 needles makes for a great texture in this pattern.

And the Ice Christmas sock.  This one's now done, and I have started on its mate.  And yes, it's in the same tree.  A creative photographer I am not.

Knitting.

Not been doing much of that lately. Mostly been working on job search and playing WoW. Thus my Olympic socks, well, I have about two inches of one cuff done. They've become my D&D project, especially since I MUST get something else done before Anachrocon.

The Nubby Trinity Shawl. I started it in September to have an example of a colorful Victorian piece, and thus it needs to be done before I give my talk.

I also have been remiss with picture-taking. It is sad when I can't identify my Ravelry projects because I can't remember the names and there's no picture. So tomorrow has officially been designated...

Melfina Takes Pictures of Projects day, with a side order of Melfina attempts organization. Should be fun.

What to do for the Olympics?

I did get the Edwardian Boat Socks done, and here is a very bad picture. Sadly, the only camera I have right now is my laptop's web cam, and that makes it a bit challenging to take sock pictures. But, yes, that is me.

And since the Olympics start Friday, and I have yet to finish knitting a pair of socks for the month, I thought it seemed like a good idea to find a pattern I like. I wanted something with a bit of interest without being too complicated, and I couldn't really find anything in cookie a's book that fit the bill. Finally I hit knitty and found...
Pyroclastic. I like the simple to knit yet complicated-looking lace, and the nice detailing. I think it will look splendid in this...

I suppose I should be panicking...

With less than two days left to go, the Edwardian Boating Socks are not done. In fact, I haven't even finished the heel on the second one. Instead of frantically knitting my hands off, I cast on for another pair of socks. In my defense, I did get some KnitPicks fixed circulars for Christmas and wanted to see what I thought of them. I like them quite a bit, but sadly the sock on them must get frogged. After all, mesh cable socks don't really work. I'm either going to use the same yarn and go down to a size 0 (adapting the pattern) or find a thicker yarn in my stash. Sadly, both my size 1 needles are in use (Edwardian and Eunice), so it's size 2 or 0.

I'm also trying to get into SAM 09. I'm hoping that that will help motivate me to actually get socks done. I have learned some good lessons from the boating socks (basketweave does not work with alpaca, if I hate the color of a yarn and dislike the pattern it's really hard to get a pair of socks done, and I like the lace addis for socks much much better than the normal ones), but at this point I just want them off the needles.

I do think the Boating Socks are a great pattern for handpainted yarn, just not Imagination.

Yes, I continue to fail at blogging. But not at knitting, well, not all the time.

I've kinda wandered into Revolutionary War recreations, and have now made 2.5 pairs of socks. The .5 may get frogged so I can use the yarn for another sock pattern I like better, but we'll see.

I recently acquired Sock Innovation by Cookie A, and I've decided my New Years Project is to knit all the patterns in the book. Yes, I like them all that much. I'd like them even better if they were toe-up, but I understand why they aren't, and it's not a huge deal one way or the other. I'm starting with Eunice, knitted in Knit Picks Imagination Sock Yarn in the Looking Glass colorway, on an Addi Lace Turbo size 1.

I've also got the Edwardian Boat Socks on the other long circular, and I'm knitting them for a knit-along. I'm halfway through the first foot and the deadline's the end of December. I've altered the pattern, adding an extra purl stitch between each of the three center arrow rows, and am making the foot plain. The top of my foot is sensitive, and this pattern seems to take all the softness out of the yarn. It's certainly a nice pattern for variegated yarn though.

I still have three shawls on the needles, the Lehe, the half square in trinity stitch, and a pattern from Knitting Lace Triangles, but all three are on hold, more or less. The Lehe just doesn't hold my interest for long, the trinity is difficult to work with for long periods of time (really thin yarn and size 10 needles not the best combo ever) and I can't find Knitting Lace Triangles.

Good thing I now have two pairs of socks on the needles, right?

Anyway, pics of at least one WIP...