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29 November 2007

wha the fuh?

This post is completely unrelated to knitting. Furthermore, it's nearly a rant.

I'm slow. Slow like a season behind. That's because I generally watch TV on DVD rather than in real time. So...I just finished watching the third season of Veronica Mars. The last episode prompts me to ask the question that forms the title of this post. The last episode makes me sad and it makes my tummy hurt a little bit too! Wait, I've redecided—I'm not going to rant. I'm going to let this article say it all for me.


I DO want to know if Keith is elected as Sherrif, or not! I DO want to see Logan and Veronica get back together again, or not (but PLEASE, Piz is so not a subsitute)! I DO want to see what happens with the Castle case! Seriously, it's not bad enough that Veronica Mars is over, but to have it just END? I HATE CW! They suck. Even Arrested Development got the chance to wrap some stuff up. What gives? The most shocking part of me and my Veronica Mars love? I miss Dick!

28 November 2007

it's so not my style...

but I love it!

Check out the link to pluckyfluff in the sidebar : ) more spinning inspiration for me.

spinny spin spin?

I plan to use this soon...really!

I didn't take the photograph, but this is the kind of spinning wheel I use (I like it a lot—it's a Lendrum folding double treadle wheel). I randomly plucked the picture off the internet. The yarn section on Ravelry inspired me to dust off my wheel and spin all the dyed fiber I have. Why has it been so long since I've spun anything? I have no idea! Sheesh.

20 November 2007

oi! a Thumb!

yes, it's out of focus

this one's out of focus too

I smartened up a bit

I finally finished the thumb of the first mitten today! I sat in my car in the park and knitted through my lunch period. I even managed to cast on and knit a couple of rows of the second mitten.

I didn't notice that the first two photos were out of focus until just now...My rotten photography skills continue to blight the internet. Ironically, I won an award for photography when I was in high school (best photographer, senior year). I was much more patient back then. These days, I pretty much point and shoot.

It's yucky outside—overcast and drizzle-y—I think it makes some people I work with cranky. Or maybe those are just my hormones. Who knows?

16 November 2007

dramatic fall sunset

I love this witchy look the sky gets every once in a while

Knitting: I don't even have number one of two finished yet, but I got so excited about having the hand of one mitten knitted, that I took pictures on the way to work this morning, and now I'm posting them. Look at my partially knitted mitten!

thankga inspired faire isle back (left mitten)


traditional fair isle palm



two side views

Yarn: blue sky ALPACAS suri merino yarn in earth and snow (colors)
Pattern: Generic Fair Isle from Hello Yarn -- graphic drawn by me
Needles: US #3 dpns
More specifics to come with the stitch pattern (it'll be free, of course)

These mittens were heavily inspired by three sources: Eunny Jang's Anemoi Mittens, Hello Yarn's Generic Fair Isle Patterns for the People, and thangka paintings.

The bsA (blue sky ALPACA) suri merino is creating a soft (cheek-strokingly soft), fuzzy, dense fabric. To proofread the pattern once it's finished, I'm going to knit another pair on slightly larger dpns with the same yarn and see if I can get a less dense, larger pair. I'll post dimensions with the pattern, of course. I feel fairly optimistic that I'll be able to get both pairs out of the two skeins of the bsA suri merino.

Like Eunny's Anemoi mittens, the backs of these mittens are asymmetrical. When both mittens are knitted, the backs of each will be mirror-images of each other.

15 November 2007

another secret project


here's a hint: blue sky ALPACAS makes a really great one ply 60% baby suri + 40% merino yarn, called suri merino. I'm knitting the colors earth and snow into something for the winter and if it's successful, there will even be a pattern to post. So, my vast readership (Heather), get ready for the first-ever knitknitknittyknit semi-original pattern!

Suri merino is a luxury to knit with. It's so soft it makes me impatient—I want to wear the finished project now!

09 November 2007

November finished project number three

what is it? I can't say or show because it's to be given to my secret Elfster recipient person. yes, it's likely safe to post a picture anyways—no one really reads this blog, but still, what if?

instead of a finished present photo, I present to you: three out of the four males with whom I share my bed. my bed isn't big enough. the love seat shown in the picture is not my bed.

the brood, l - r: Catbus, Gummi, Gary

05 November 2007

so close I'm calling it.

saartje's booties

All I have to do is sew the buttons onto the second bootie and they're good to go! Nevermind that yesterday would have been the perfect day to present them to my new friend.

I shouldn't show such close ups because my stitches are, um, well, less than perfect.

Yarn: Rowan Classic Cashcotton DK in Apple (35% Cotton, 25% Polyamide, 18% Angora, 13% Viscose, 9% Cashmere)
Needles: 2.25mm dpn
Pattern: Saartjes Booties
Modifications: rows 21 - 23 omitted to make bootie smaller—in the picture above, you can see that this modification distorts the stitches at the toe

02 November 2007

hm.

I generally like to have only one project going at a time (I know—I'm boring), but I'm thinking about starting one of those snazzy, seductive, striped, Noro silk garden scarves before the bubbly curtain is finished. Ai yi yi, I'm going to have to stop looking at brooklyntweed soon.

The good news (for me) is that I think November is going to see three whole finished projects! (1) Hemlock Ring Blanket (2) Bubbly Curtain (3) secret gift (already very close to completion, pictures will be posted as soon as it's been given to its intended recipient). Maybe I'll get really adventurous and find some yarn to make Saartje's baby booties and squeeze those into November too (I know, counting baby booties into a finished objects list is like cheating). By the way, I did NOT get the idea for these booties from brooklyntweed. I got the idea from Knit 'n Lit!

blockhead

I know I said I wasn't going to post pictures until I finished the entire blocking process, but I am. Following are some unblocked, unprofessional, un-pretty photos of my hemlock ring blanket.

it doesn't look so bad after all

UNdisciplined edging—compare to b-tweed photo from yesterday's post


The photograph above is indeed overexposed, but it also illustrates a key blunder I made during the construction of this blanket. I bought two colors of wool that looked fairly different on the website (earmarked for two different projects). In reality, the two colors are quite similar. When I ran out of the first ball of yarn, I was sleepy, and it was nighttime, and maybe the light in my bedroom wasn't adequate. Anyways, I grabbed what I believed to be a new skein of wool identical to the color in which I was knitting the blanket. To my horror, I realized DAYS and ROWS later that I was using the WRONG color. So, in the photo, right where it looks like the flash over-illuminated the front part of the blanket, you can see the color change. I admit that the colors are close and that, in person, no one has noticed until I told them, but it REALLY bothers me.



My plan is to wake up full of energy tomorrow morning and to immediately commence blocking. I'm guessing that brooklyntweed used the wet-block method. I'll do the same. I just hope that I have enough patience and pins to get the edging to behave!

01 November 2007

block block block

I've finished my Hemlock Ring Blanket...but it is in serious need of blocking. It needs agressive blocking. I did a preliminary block last night, but I have some issues that I need to work out before I'm ready to photograph it. What issues? Mostly I'd like to get the edging under control.


This is what I call disciplined edging.

Once I've given the blanket its spanking, I will unveil it.