Stupid Sweater

This is the second time around for this yarn.  It was a failed sweater from a few years back, no matter who tried the thing on it look bad on them.  It was like the opposite of the Traveling Pants, nothing but fug! I found a better pattern, I made sure it look good on other people and got started.  I'm not sure where it went wrong.  There are a few things I know about myself.  For starters I can't wear Raglan ANYTHING.  Sweaters, shirts, nope not a one.  I told myself this pattern was different, not a true raglan, it'll be fine.  My gauge is right, in fact it should be SMALLER than written.  Instead this thing is a huge sweater mess.  HUGE.  JUST HUGE in all the wrong places.  Under the arms, in the back, in the arms.  WHO THE FUCK TEST KNIT THIS SHIT! Sizing people, alway make the pattern in the size that is in the picture, because other wise its gonna look like a sack on you. Also just ignore your boobs.  Seriously, from now on I'm just knitting to ignore my boobs.

See HUGE raglan underarms HUGE! What do I have that much underarm flab. 

Look at that extra back fabric!!!

That about sums it up.

This yarn also doesn't have enough twist to give body.  The alpaca gives it too much drape and its a bitch.  So this will get pulled out AGAIN, and maybe one day it will become a blanket, a nice soft cozy blanket, not a terrible sweater.  

"and I couldn't stop it"

That's a favorite Stewie Griffin quote, and exactly how I feel about this year.  ITS THE DAY AFTER THANKSGIVING!!! When did that freakin happen, huh huh!?!?!

I guess I should work harder on my current projects so I can get to making the ones in my closet.  Sure. 

I do still Knit

But you don't get to see it much.  Or at least the finished products.  So thing about getting from camera to computer is a chore and then on to the blog.  I'm trying to make it work on that but I'm just running on auto until I have more time.  Hub's job is a super time suck and I'm trying to workout twice a day, which leaves about 0 time to knit or post.  A while back I finished this project......



Project: Willow Cowl
Yarn: Hazel Knits, sock
Colorway: Hometown Team (?)



I ment to wear this to ALLLLLL those chilly M's games
 that I would go to this year.  I went to one,
 before I finished it. 
 So sad we went to like 20 last year. 





Hidding from how bad the M's have been



Stash Break Down

Its time to tackle the stash. Yes, that place that yarn hides. Where bits of fiber lurk and wait. Its there behind the door of my studio closet, stressing me out. IT HAS TO GO!!! All of it, well most of it. For starters all the yarn needs to be assigned a project, projects and yarn are going into bags. Extra yarn that is project-less or that I just don't ever what to see again will be sold, traded or gifted. The only yarn I will purchase from now until when ever all that stash goes away is sweater amounts. You heard me right, I only have 2 sweaters waiting in the wings. Also I have never purchased a "sweater amount" without a project. This sounds really strange, but its true. My "stash" is mainly bits of sock yarn (I don't wear socks) lace, and some random heavier weights. I'm posting this because I want you to keep me on task. I'll update soon, like after I wade through the crap. Check back.

Field Trip

Today the girls and I are going to Church Mouse yarn! It should prove to be a blast. DB Cooper (thats my red velvet mini cooper) will be our escort for the ride. I jump at the chance to show off what that seeming so small car do. Four adult ladies and their yarn treasures, no match for DB's German know-how. (Yes, while the factory that every mini cooper has ever been produced in is in England, and the car is still "English". BMW purchased the company from Rover Group in the late 90's. I have the smallest cheapest BMW you can get, and it rocks).
Please check out Church Mouse on the web, and if you're a NW'ner go up and have a visit.

Okay......

So I know that I've dropped off the radar a little but I've been busy. With the move, the mass of unpacking and well the general ****GASP**** of finally moving back to the great northwest.

We move ALOT! I mean like more than any normal person should who isn't trying to escape some kind of law enforcement. Yet each time I get out the plastic tubs to create my signature "kitchen in a box" I totally freakout! Its not that kind of run-around with your head cut off like a dead chicken freakout, its a teeth grinding "OHHOLYCRAPDIDIFORGETTODOTHAT" kinda freakout. The thing about this kinda spaz is its hard to relax from but it does feel so good when things finally get into shape. And into shape they have, just a few neighborhood highlights include a farmers market just about 6 blocks from my door. Two, count 'em two grocery stores all of nine blocks. Granted one of these stores is the super fancy pants grocery which I only shop at when I need something that just CANNOT be found in one of the "normal" grocery stores. However when you have sooooo many places to shop in the city, including the various ethnic markets which come with a major city, its almost unheard of for me to shop the FP store. Not going to name store names but this is the type of store which sells like 10 different kinds of jam and 30 jellys all of which are "organic, and grown on patches of reclaimed landfill with natural water recycled from middle schools" or something to that effect. They all cost upward of 5 bucks a little jar too. Granted you can get like two flavors of good ol'smuckers there so they can call themselves a real grocery store. The kind of folks you find filling their funny little half grocery buggies with level 5 vegan walnut bread and heirloom beer, aren't so interested in the providence of their food or even how freakin yummy the Milk that comes in the glass bottle is (which it is) but that they can afford to purchase insanely expensive pre-cooked "rainbow" carrots. Which when I gleefully wandered around the produce to pick out my own "rainbow" carrots to make them at home, they didn't carry them. However they have a fantastic beer selection!
After supporting my local and well stocked farmers market, it was time to start enjoying the few things which are in season in the Great NW.

+

=

Rhubarb and Strawberry Crumble, super tasty and a great way to enjoy season noms. The rhubarb came from a small farm in the valley and the strawberries from one of Tacoma's coolest grocery spots, Tacoma Boys. I also made a Rhubarb Strawberry compote with the rest of the fruits.

Its wonderful just eaten with a spoon or over ice cream or greek yogurt. I'll make more this season, in fact I might even get into some canning and "put some up" for fall when you need a little bite of spring time.

Finally I've been busy with some yarn related projects too namely Lil's birthday Blanket.

Oh I'm so Sorry

It always seems like once I find a new Blog to read that Blogger goes on some extended vacation from the rest of humanity, and I'm sorry to any new readers. Lately I've just been try to recover from the mad gift making and shipping, the slew of x-mas parties and the cookies that go with them. What have I been up to? Well one I can't show you because its a secret, but some others I can.
First I made my own surface of the sun.....My good friend Evan of Evan Baines Photography out of Nashville uses this method for his amazing photography and for about $20 you can too can take better pictures any time of the day. Check out this link for instructions, Strobist.

Yes that is my Red Swingline Stapler!

When I moved out here from TN and away from the great people in my lab, they threw me a little going away party. The also gave me a little gift card to one of my favorite yarn shops. Little Knits in Seattle. Well the idea was that when I couldn't stand living in a yarnless town any longer I could break out the gift card and get some much needed fiber therapy.
BEHOLD! Enough Silky Merino Malabrigo to make the Hour Glass sweater in this great tone on tone blue. Really? Blue? Claire? I needed a change. It's more glacier than blue.

Next week I'll share more, including my gifts from the BVC folks and snippets from the secret project. After Christmas the Etsy Shop will be updated, and a second shop will be rolled out after in the start of the new year (oooooooo).

Until we meet again, a little surprise from my African Violet that seems to forget its winter.

Weekends

I'm going to count the weekends as one day, since I know most readership is done at work.

These are the long over due shots of the Hew Shrug.

I'm not sure where to start about this shrug, but don't make it. I'm all for it hurts so good knitting. Hell I drive a stick shift and like it, but this shrug was just stupid. Cast on some 200+ stitches for the ties WTF? It doesn't have a good picture nor anyway to know what this baby is going to look like. The directions kinda suck. I'll wear it but don't make it. I think I'm getting old and cranky in my knitting. I want projects that are well thought out and test knit, I want good directions and looks of maps and measurements. It could be the cabinet makers daughter in me, but I want to know what things should be.

That said, I've been working on my Thanksgiving crafts and am quickly understanding that x-mas is getting ever closer and thus need to start making those gifts. Eeeek!

Having a Punny Good Time

We like jokes in this family, we also like really silly puns. An attack with rolled up socks is normal and then the claim of being "socked". So while making dinner the other night it happened, there was at good ol'fashion

BEET DOWN!

I'm not sorry for that.

But other than silly food jokes, I'm still crafting away. Granted I did go to post to get my volunteering straightened out. Turns out no one called the lab director yesterday (when I talked to the volunteer coordinator about starting today) so I had to wait on her to call us back, and it was a busy (okay they thought busy) morning in volunteer land. Well long stupid, you people have got to get this ironed out or your going to keep loosing every volunteer you get through here, story short..... I'm going to be working in the lab as a volunteer MT. I know that sounds really strange, and the more I say it the stranger it sounds, since ummmm I made lots of money per hour as an MT and now I'm giving myself away. Since we've reached our employment event horizon so to speak (just about 4 and half months left here and thanksgiving and x-mas in there) I'm really not going to get to do anything unless I just give it away. So hopefully I can start soooooooooooooooooooooooon, I'm so board I'm making root vegetable jokes.
After fighting and fighting with the printer to get it to print in reverse so I could make some neato little tags for my stuff....
I also got some yarn cakes ready for use. I'm almost done with the first arm of the Lady February Sweater (soft green), I plan on making a shawl with the dark green, and a second ball of silk bamboo for some fingerless gloves to take the chill off the mini coopers chrome gear shift. Let me tell you that bugger gets red hot in the summer!

Not much Going on

These days it seems like nothing is going on, and yet not a lot is getting done either. No pets that need walking or have funny attachment to thing, thought the parakeet loves the remote control. Other than trying to track down where in the world the part to my dishwasher is since it hasn't work in the two months I've lived in this house and have had to wash EVERY single plate, dish, cup, soup etc by hand. The finally agreed that the 10 year old contraption had to go and I got a brand spanking new one. Granted its about the size of a suitcase rather than the newer larger types but it's a working dishwasher none the less. BUT! It leaks, from the back, into the carpet. :( Wet socks are really gross. I needed to go to the grocery today, get things to eat, to make dinners with but now I get to call the rental people and wait for someone to check on my wet carpet. GOODIE! But its not all bad, I can get some more spinning in and work on my sewing project.

So far the spinning is going well, I do predraft and all that, but I think my very first try at making yarn was a good one. It had some really thick spots but that seemed to get better, and the twist is a little tight so that the yarn will do something a little funny when I knit it, I'm sure, but I'm okay with that. Only problem now is that I have to get some more fiber. If I was back in TN I could go to the up coming fiber fair but alas I'm here. I should just get on it and order more of the same since it was well priced and only faintly itchy. I do have about 4oz of undyed silver alpaca. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Wrap

PATTERN: Strangling Vine
YARN: Fiber Denn Sport Weight 1 large-ass Skein
NEEDLES: Knit Picks Options US6
SIZE: about 63", so me sized
Before being Blocked
I loved this yarn and this pattern, which was super easy to remember and the pattern was easy to modify, I added a few repeats to make it more wrap than scarf. It was a lot of yarn.
I bought this yarn some time ago, when I can't quite remember. I do remember that I was going to split the yarn and share with a friend who purchases the more purple of the two. It would have made a great chevron scarf. Well it never happened and I needed to knit some lace!

Every Thing Off the Needles

I've been using my excess of time to get things, everything, off the needles. My rule about only three things on the needles was blown out of the water sometime along the time when I started knitting some gifts and teaching toe up socks to the lunch bunch at the BVC. Soooooo, I've frogged the dish cloth because I couldn't remember what row I was on, I finished the Strangling Vine Scarf and blocked it (pictures to follow), the black shrug is super close to being done, the Hew shrug is giving me fits and killing my arm, pink socks need binding off, teal socks need a toe sewn up. I still have a stormy sea sock to make and most of the Potato chip scarf to finish. I'm kinda running on empty though. I REALLY WANT TO CAST ON FOR A NEW PROJECT. But what? The Lady February Sweater just in time for winter, the Chevron Scarf with two beautiful skeins of alpaca bought last year at the Dickson Fiber Fair. I just can't do it, I MUST FINISH!!!!! I must finish what I have on the needles before I can start anything new.
I'll post pictures soon!

End To End

Pattern: Marialis End-to-End Scarf
Needles: US 3 options fixed
Yarn: Sundara Sock Yarn, Deadly Nightshade
Made For: ME!
Started: Jan 1st
Finished: Feb 25th



When I got this yarn in the mail I just couldn't bring myself to make socks out of it. The lovely way the color changes and that oh so perfect twist.



So far it has become one of my most favorite scarves even if it did feel like took a life time to knit.