Yarn Whore

Why are you here?

2007-01-08T18:08:00.000-08:00

I moved to http://slowknitter.com months ago. Go on over there!

For MY pleasure?

2006-07-05T23:57:00.000-07:00

Whoever came up with the slogan "Ribbed for her pleasure" obviously was not talking about someone who was knitting K3 P3 rib on a mens size 12 sock. Or two socks.

Also, another knitting tip: if you hate Rachel Ray and you know it clap your hand on the remote and change the channel before you screw up your tension.

Sock Yarn Porn, an FO, and a new address

2006-07-03T15:25:00.000-07:00

Since I promised in my last post to post photos and then didn't, here's a slew of photos!

First up THE FO: I finished my Lucha Libre Lace project! Elfines Lace Socks for my Mom's birthday. And extra points for finishing before her actual birthday. Wanna see the whole thing plus all the info? Go there. We'll wait.

ELFINE'S DETAIL!

While we're waiting let's discuss my disgust with blogger. It's a pain in the ass a lot of the time. Why, just today while I was trying to post 14 tiny photos it decided it was full after only 5 and threw up. And then ate all the other photos. This happens all the time. So I took Kristen's comment to heart and signed up for worpress. My new address will be " slowknitter.com" (no linky goodness as there's just an "under construction" page) I'll let you know when it goes "live"

I like the name change. I never really liked the name for this blog. I set it up when I was still working on Close to Home and in my exhaustion I just couldn't think of a good yet original name. Yarnhoar (though I am one) was just too close to the Yarn Harlot. And while I really love Stephanie's blog, I don't want to seem like a complete stalker. I am stalking her, by the way. I'm trying really hard to get her to LA and to one of the cool yarn shops where not everyone is a completely bitchy knitting snob. (you have NO idea how many shops here are like that)

Anyway, I'll let you know when it goes "live". It would probably be up right now if not for my desktop being kind of sickly. And then just when I thought I had made it better my dsl decided to take a crap. I have to wait until Friday for AT&T to get it's shit together and get out here to fix it. I am currently posting from my laptop (with an 11" X 5" screen) and stealing wireless internet access from one of my neighbors. Since my neighbors stole free wireless from me for a few years before I decided to encrypt my wireless I figure it's payback time.

Are you back? Good. On to the yarn porn! (all captions before the photos)

This is Lorna's Laces sock yarn in # 708 Camouflage. Most likely socks for my brother.

This? This is 500 yrds of Hello Yarn's superwash 100% Merino sock yarn. Color: Focus
I can hear you asking why the two balls are different sizes. Well. I like to divide the balls up in two for knitting socks on magic loop. And Hello Yarn has an awesome site with all kinds of knitty, spinny, DIY kinds of projects. I decided to make their yarn meter. And this was my first attempt. Sad isn't it?

Here's my set-up. It's definitely home grown.

Here's the meter close up. Notice how it's being held on by screws and rubber bands. Nice! Also, the Rolatape meter is the older, sturdier model. Which may be great if you're measuring asphalt, but the tension on it because of it's weight makes for very tightly spun yarn balls. Not so good. My friend who fixes computers and all manner of other things (he's going to make me an electric yarn ball winder!) will be helping me to fix this and my computer when he gets back into town...

Second attempt at using the yarn meter. Two skeins of Koigu KPPPM # P622. Yeah I know I said I didn't really like knitting with Koigu because of the twist. I bought more anyway. Once it's washed it all becomes worth it.

Here we go for some serious porn... Bollicina 65% cashmere 35% silk fingering. It is softer than soft and is currently being knitted into socks for the boy for his birthday. I tried to knit this in the Jaywalker Pattern, but it just didn't really look right for a man with size 12 feet. Which is too bad because I spent some time re-writing the pattern for toe up magic loop with a short row heel. Anyway, these will be the six stitch slip stitch rib knit toe up magic loop with a short row heel (yeah I do love that short row thing, don't I?)

I went a little crazy over on etsy. I started buying sock yarn that wasn't the cotton lycra crack I usually buy. This is from Fearless Fibers. 550 yds of 100% superwash merino wool. 8 sts to the inch on US size 2 needles. Colorway: Brick House. It's just a tiny bit thicker than Koigu, almost like Koigu after washing. It it so soft! And there is so much. This will most likely be boy socks because of the yardage. It was cheap too. $12.99 plus shipping for 550 yds!

I also bought this. It's Twirlgirl Fibers 60% merino 40% cashmere fingering sock yarn. Colorway: Swamp music. 400 yds. This will become a pair of Elfine's socks for Me Me Me!

Lest you think I gave up buying cotton lycra sock yarn from Carolyn at Greenwood Fiberworks, here's the latest: From left to right:

Forest path (2), Vineyard (1), and Charcoal (2). I buy doubles for knitting for big manly feet.

Then I saw this and I had to have it. Had to. It's Gypsy Knits Travel sock kit in the Ice Cream colorway. Pink, brown, and natural! And it came in it's own bag, plus a tiny little hank to knit a headband. Very cute!

Ever since I got my first skein of the cotton lycra yarn I have been looking to buy some for my own dyeing. Carolyn's work is awesome, and I will continue to buy yarn from her, but there are colorways that I want to knit that NO ONE is selling. Like black and red striped (yeah I know it's hard to dye black blah blah blah. Trust me when I say that after re-dyeing all my black clothes for 10 years because of the bleach stains from work- I do know how to dye things black. Especially cotton) or pink and black, pink and brown, pink and orange...

What can I say? I like a more punk rock color pallete.

Anyway, I looked and looked. And looked and looked. Come on google, help a girl out. After TWO MONTHS of searching I finally stumbled upon what I was looking for:

THAT, my friends is 2.1lbs of cotton lycra fingering weight yarn. Or about 5000 yds. FIVE THOUSAND YARDS. Squee! I am so excited! Anyway here's a few good things to know:

1. I AM NOT SELLING THIS YARN.
Dyed or undyed, it is for me. I will be giving some to a few good people
(Lap, are you knitting socks yet? Kristen, your name is on the list.) The rest is for me.
I'm greedy like that. That 5000 yds will end up being about 12 skeins. Now it doesn't seem
like so much, does it? Also, I go back to work on this show in a few weeks (please DO NOT name the show in the comments; this blog is searchable. If you do I'll have to delete the comment and I hate that!) What does that mean? Well, it means that I'll be working 75-80+ hours a week. If you think for one minute that I'm going to be dyeing and selling yarn to supplement an income that doesn't need supplementing by a long shot then you are out of your tree. I don't need the money, and I'd rather be using the time it takes to dye and sell and ship yarn to, oh I don't know... sleep? (Those 9 hour turnarounds are ass kickers)

2. NO, I WILL NOT TELL YOU HOW TO BUY THIS YARN OR WHERE TO FIND IT.
There are a few people who sell this kind of sock yarn. Carolyn at Greenwood Fiberworks
has sold me 99% of my yarn, including 2 hanks of the natural straight from her dyestock.
She didn't have to do that, but she's a very nice woman. Creating more competition for her
than she already has is not a very nice way to say thank you.

My order for Procion dyes and the various and sundry accessories are winging their way here from Dharma Trading co. As we speak. All I need now is a niddy-noddy to skein this stuff...

What arrived as I was typing this?

SCORE!

Okay, that enough blogging/bragging/ranting for one day. You think?

The Order of the Sock

2006-06-06T12:21:00.000-07:00

I'll post photos later today...

I have been nosing around Typepad and MoveableType this morning. Which is kinda funny, as Blogger is down right now. I never like it when that rare urge to post strikes me and I can't do it.
I'm not so sure that I can do MT, but as I look around at all the other knit-blogs I'm thinking that not all these chicks (well, mostly chicks) have IT degrees. Maybe it's not so hard…. (mwhahahahahahahha!)

In addition to starting yet ANOTHER blog ( Lucha Libre Lace) I have been on a sock tear. I like knitting socks. They're small, and they are portable and people wear socks nearly all the time. Unlike hats. Or sweaters. Or car covers.

First I started the pink socks. I finished one sock and cast on for the second like a good girl. And that's where it sits, cast on and abandoned. I realize that I don’t really enjoy knitting on DPN's in that size, plus I got all fancy on myself and learned the Magic loop method. Plus I forgot to write down my pattern notes… I will finish these, but they won't match exactly.

Then I started the baby socks. These are the socks that I taught myself magic loop on. I grew tired of wrestling the size1 addi turdos on these tiny socks. However, I am nearly done with these. I’m not looking forward to ribbing on such a little piece of work, but my cousin saw them and now I have to finish. Preferably before she has the kid (she’s due June 26)

Then I started my Dad’s “Plain Vanilla” socks. My Pop only wears white socks, unless he’s wearing a suit. Then he wears dress socks, usually black. Guess who is absolutely not knitting all black dress socks that my Pop will never wear because he rarely needs to get dressed up anymore?

I convinced Carolyn over at Greenwood Fiberworks to send me two undyed blanks of her cotton/lycra sock yarn. She was really nice about sending the blanks, as they are straight out of her dye stock. I cast these on and have started writing a toe up pattern using the Turkish cast on (short rowing on this yarn is tricky enough without having to do a short row toe AND heel). When I decided to knit socks for the men in my life I went looking for patterns for guys with big-ass feet. And found nothing that I liked. Hence the writing of my own pattern.

Did I mention that this yarn in not dyed? And that my Pop doesn’t like any sort of design element? So I am knitting plain, white STOCKINETTE socks with a short row heel in a size 11.5. Did I also mention that I wanted to have these done 3 days before Father’s Day due to shipping issues? (due date June 15) Update: Not happening. Maybe for his birthday in October. Instead I donated books in his name to the Dewey Donation System . Go there and donate. People need books.

Then there is the Lucha Libre Lace project. First it was going to be a lace stole for my mother’s birthday. Then I found the Elfine’s socks pattern and decided to go with these instead. Maybe that way I’ll actually finish something that is lace. Plus, they’re pretty.

I’ve cast these on. Three times. The first two cast on and frugging (fucking + frogged = frugging) incidents had nothing to do with lace and everything to do with my not liking how the M1 increases were looking. I figured it out ( I was doing it wrong, duh) and they look fine now. Except that I am getting some laddering on one side of each sock.

I am using Koigu KPPPM #803. And I’m going to commit a little bit of knitters sacrilege right here…

I don’t really like knitting with Koigu.

Perhaps I am being unfair, as every freaking knitter in blog-land loooooves Koigu. I think it is over twisted. It looks beautiful once knit, but the over twist is causing some serious problems with the magic loop method. And also my sanity. I am using a 47" needle so I shouldn't be getting such horrible twist. I could switch out to regular needles and see if that helps, but I am committed. And also the pattern is written for Magic Loop. And it's going pretty fast. Maybe, when I am done, washing and blocking will help...

Although the lace smack-A-long goes until around Labor day these socks are for my Mom's birthday, July 16.

There is one more pair of socks that need to be knit. I have the yarn, but I haven't cast on yet. The fact that all my addi's for magic loop are in play might be one factor. Or that I already have 3.5 pair of socks with some serious deadlines might be another.

But I do need to get started on these as well. They're for J* for his birthday. And out of all these people I'm knitting for, he's the only one who actually asked for socks.

Wish me luck.

Mathtard (the sequel to the sequel)

2006-05-29T13:39:00.000-07:00

Lace is kicking my ass. Again.

I gave up on the DEW cardigan because I just couldn't get knitting lace. Then I discovered that when I re-taught myself to knit "continental" I went right ahead and taught myself "combined knitting" rather than the traditional method of continental style. The combined method IS much more intuitive than regular knitting AND has the added bonus of being faster. How much faster, I don't know. I still think I knit pretty slow, especially in the round.

Anyway, it was clear to me then that I was gonna have to learn some new tricks. Grumperina has a chart for those of us too retarded to figure it out on our own. So I printed the chart, ordered an "easier" project (Lead or Follow lace scarf) and a different Helen's laces colorway (Tahoe) and I sat down to conquer lace. I mean come on, it's just sticks and yarn with loops and decreases and increases. How hard is this supposed to be? I'm smarter than yarn and needles, aren't I?

If "smarter" means "able to count to twelve" then the answer is no. Seriously. I'll be in the middle of a count, get distracted by something shiny and end up tinking back a row when I get to the end and realize that my count is off by a stitch or five. It's maddening. Then I see Wendy has made another shawl out of her own handspun. I checked her blog for dates and it looks like it took her 12 days to knit it. 12 days. And that's not counting working, sleeping, knitting socks, and going on her book tour. Someday I hope to be able to knit like that. Maybe when I grow up and am able to count higher than three for extended periods of time.

The baby shower

A few weeks ago I lost my mind and decided to knit a baby blanket for my cousin in time for her baby shower.

Yeahhhhhhhh. Right.

If you'll look to the right on your monitor (and down some) you'll notice that I have a new sidebar entry called "Orphans". It's my section for abandoned projects. Anyway, I knit on that thing for a day or two before I realized that I was A) going insane with all the baby blue acrylic and 7) unable to count to 18 for the pattern repeat (there's a theme going here). Off the needles it went. Also off the needles? The aforementioned and much cursed DEW cardigan, my dad's blue socks (he'll never wear the wool and I'll never knit cuff down again), and a white Kitty Hat from the first Stitch and Bitch. Buh-bye ill conceived projects, don't let the door ~~shred to pieces~~ hit your crazy-making patterns on the way out.

Where was I? Oh yes, the baby shower. Ok. I generally hate baby showers. I like the babies that are inevitably there , but I don't like the stupid games that the organizers make everyone play. Luckily there was only one rather innocuous game before the group mutinied and requested present opening and cake.

The other thing I don't like about baby showers (and bridal showers and weddings ) is the inevitable questioning of my current relationship status. Lately this questioning has been on the upswing. It seems that no matter where I go there is at least one ~~jackass~~ ~~insensitive clod~~ person who grills me about when I am getting married. Usually it's my family who are being generally rude about this, but last week the guy who owns the makeup supply store asked me where my engagement ring was. Weird.

I honestly don't have an answer for this question. Do I want to marry J*? Yes, I do. Do I want to have a child with him? Yes. I think J* would make a great husband and father. Do we talk about this? No, we don't. And I don't think that this is a problem. Though, apparently I am in the minority on this point.

I guess my "advancing" age has something to do with this. I'm 38, and my unmarried/childless status is some sort of incomprehensible anomaly that my family can't seem to wrap their heads around. (to be fair, my mom has backed off completely since I had a talk with her about how the pressure to get married was really pissing me off). Out of all the "kids" of legal age in the family, I am the only one who is not married. I don't know why this is such an issue with people, but it is. One of my cousins asked me if J* had a commitment "problem". What the hell kind of question is that?

J* and I have been dating for a year and a half. We don't live together and our jobs often require us to be apart more than we are together. There aren't a lot of mundane moments in our relationship because there simply isn't time for it. We don't really fight (again, no time) but we do discuss everything. EVERYTHING. The slower nature of our relationship I think gives us time to build something beautiful and strong. I think the only commitment "problem" we have is the inability to conform to my family's unwritten and baffling time table.

Where was I going with this? Oh yeah. I hate that these questions make me feel defensive. I don't know how to deflect these questions from my family or relative strangers without seeming defensive. Strangely, for the girl who has a comeback for just about anything that comes my way the only answer I have is: "I don't know".

Ok, end of rant. This probably should have gone over on hairburner, but here it is.

I'll distract you with some photos of what I'm currently working on. How's that?

Here are the baby socks I decided to knit instead of the blanket. I like how the blue looks a little like camouflage. Knitted toe up with a Turkish cast on (my new favorite!) and short row heels using the Magic Loop method on Addi Turbos 2.25mm (us1). The cotton/lycra sock yarn was bought on etsy.com from Carolyn at Greenwood Fiberworks. I am addicted to this yarn.

Here is the beginning of the Lead or Follow scarf. I'm halfway through the row because I'm tinking back to the stitch marker. I had to put it down or somebody was going to get hurt. I bought the pattern from The Knitting Zone. I found them on a random google hunt. I like them because they have almost 200 patterns for immediate download. Which satisfies my "I have to make this RIGHT NOW" problem. This is being knit on size 4US 24" Clover bamboo circulars. I don't like them. At all. (tips not pointy enough, cable isn't bendy enough even after soaking the cable in boiling water) Tomorrow I'll go to my favorite LYS and buy a pair of Crystal Palace circs.

Here is the Helen's Laces yarn in the Tahoe colorway. 1250 yards of wooly/silk goodness. That's 1.143 kilometers or 12 and a half football fields. When should a yarn ball manufacturer start making an electric version of their product? Um. Now. Now would be good.

A while back, while under the influence of yarn and the Superbowl game I went to a yarn store by J*'s house. I bought a ton of crap there (there was a SALE). I bought 10 balls of this:

I know I totally took leave of my senses that day. Look:

I think I was going to combine this with the slub yarn I used on the booga bag to knit a scarf or ten for Knit for the Cure. Since I used the slub to go live with Lap this ~~fright-fest~~ bag has been taunting me. I finally decided to make a tank top for my housekeeper since she loves pink so much. She even commented on how pretty the yarn was. I pulled this out to knit on when my friend Julie was over the other day. She told me it was too ugly and bulky. Now I am not so sure. I don't want this to end up on You Knit What??. We'll see.

That's it for now. Next up in the posting: Snotty LA yarn store owners.

Jackass knitting tip #57

2006-05-25T16:01:00.000-07:00

Here's a tip for those of you who are knitting socks on one circular (AKA Magic Loop):

When pulling the cable backwards to get the stitches resting on the cable back on to the needle to knit, make sure that you are pulling the correct side of the cable. Pulling the incorrect side of the cable could result in pulling the needles completely out of one side of two socks.

It could also result in spending a wasted 20 minutes of fishing your teeny tiny size 1 stitches out of the loops because you love this stupid cotton lycra sock yarn that shrinks right back into itself so much it hurts.

It could also result in a lot of artfully strung together curses and also in the making another one of these, even though it may been what caused the confusion in the first place.

If I were a gnat I would have swatted me by now

2006-05-16T21:07:00.000-07:00

I have no attention span.

No really.

Unbeknownst to me, I signed some sort of stash non-proliferation agreement. I'm not sure with whom, or when, exactly I signed it though I am somehow of the belief that my step-mom secretly flew out here and had me sign while I was in some sort of work induced coma.

I sent her a 35lb box of yarn right before I left for Costa Rica. Thirty. Five. Pounds.

And I am about to send her another box. NOT 35lbs, as I am not sure I even have another 35lbs actually in my stash.

This would, in most cases, mean that I have absolutely nothing to knit.

Do you see anything in my stash to knit?

I call this my cashmerino superchunky phase

See that brown hank? 100% 8 ply cashmere.
Discontinued. You don't want to know what I spent on this yarn. And it was on sale.

Could someone please explain the Bernat baby to me?
I fear this may have been a sweater for an infant that is now 3.

This is where the real stash is. Under the bed. Hidden from prying eyes. Whose?
Oh, I don't know. J* doesn't care about how much yarn I buy.

See what I mean? Absolutely NOTHING to knit.

I am still knitting on the pink sock.

A little ribbing here and there.

But I also started something new. A baby blanket for my cousin. The baby shower is in a week and a half. I was telling my mom that I was making a baby blanket. My mom, who is most definitely NOT a knitter asked me if I would be able to finish it in time. Sheesh!

This is acrylic something or other. You know, because babies are messy. And things need washing.

Knit on 10.5 addi's, yarn doubled because if I had to knit this on a size 6 I would kill myself. As it stands right now I am only thinking about sticking my head in the oven.

I got to thinking about the other projects I have languishing on needles:

Remember this?

Yeah.

Dew cardigan : 8 Wendy: admitting defeat

(that's right. Cast on = EIGHT)

Which is too bad, because this yarn is gorgeous. I'm thinking it's going to be a shawl. An easy shawl.

Actually I learned something interesting in my quest to conquer lace. I am a "combination" knitter. Annie Modesitt has an explanation here . And as such, lace has really sucked for me. I know better now. I've got printouts to help me.

I don't even remember whose little ~~hellion~~ ~~brat~~ tyke was to be the recipient of this eye-stabber. A beautiful merino knit in garter stitch on size 6 needles.

Notice the needles are missing. This piece is now happily frogged (I may have laughed a bit gleefully as I did it) and the balls are on their way to Colorado.

This is a throw I decided to make for J*'s mom for Christmas. I was under the influence of yarn at the time. Notice I didn't say which Christmas.

This?

This is the reason why I curse the manufacturer of the electric yarn ball winder who has decided to not offer them to the American market anymore.

If only I knew some small children looking to make a few bucks.

Okay. I've shown you mine. It's your turn.

(Also? Blogger can SUCK IT right now)

What I did on my summer vacation

2006-05-12T11:52:00.000-07:00

Lap wanted to know if I got any knitting done while I was here:

The answer is yes. Though not actually on the beach, because it was too damn hot and muggy (not to mention buggy). The humidity was causing the cotton to be kind of "fluffy". So I knit in the hotel room. Wanna see? Okay!

Seriously, do you have any idea how freakin' proud of myself I am? After ALL those tries knitting a sock top down? After not finding a yarn I could love (and wash and dry?). Well, that's not true. I know there is a LOT of other wool I love that are for socks, but those are for me. Because I know no one else that I could trust not to throw the merino in the washer and dryer (Laura and Kristen excluded of course)

Wanna see the heel up close? squeeee!

When I turned the heel I nearly died. It IS simple, and yet so amazing. And I had no one to share it with. I told J*, who was at first rather non plussed, but when he saw how excited I was he played the part very nicely and actually looked at what I had done and was a little amazed. Of course, it does help that he was an actor, so his performace seemed sincere. I love this man.

Of course, he wants a pair of his own (not pink). Did I mention that he wears a size 12 shoe? I also want to knit a pair for my dad. Size 11 1/2 shoe. My brother? One size 10 1/2 and one size 11(just to keep it complicated for me). Why in the hell do the men in my life have such big ass feet? (insert wail here)

At least us chicks have small feet. I wear a 7 1/2, my mom wears a 7, and my sister-in-law wears a 5 1/2 wide. (her little feet are so cute, almost hobbity in their nearly square proportions!)

I also realized that this sock is kinda wide (72 sts) so guess who's getting these when they are done?

Oh! I almost forgot. I got some books in the mail when I was gone:

I love the look of these books. Everything is so clean and precise.

I'll be posting mostly over at Hairburner for the next few days. And the RSS thingy I talk about over there? It works for this too.

Oh, and Kristen? I hope you feel better soon miss. And send me an address will you?

Models

2006-04-26T12:40:00.000-07:00

For Lap...

Lap asked me what the tiger's name was. It took me a minute to remember. But my memory was then jogged by an email I sent to Galaxy about 18mos ago.

"I'm including happy pictures...the first is of some old fends. The tiger's name is Tricky. I don't know why, it just fit. He's either enigmatic or embarrassed to be seen with his other two companions. Timothy is the turtle. I think he has some mild retardation or residual brain injury. He's very sweet and always smiling like that. Charlie is in the back. I think he was originally named Boo-Boo, but he told me he likes to be called Charlie. I've had Charlie since I was 4. He's lost a little of his beans over the years, and needs help sitting up, but he is a good guy and keeps Tricky in line. Timothy looooves Charlie."

Anyway, here's Timothy helping me show off my progress on the pink sock.

Tricky was being kind of grumpy when I found him hiding under the couch today. He was grumbling something about pink. I can only surmise that he was upset that he had to wear the pink sock/hat. You'll see him again when he calms down.

Hey! I finished something!

2006-04-25T12:08:00.000-07:00

The booga bag... she is done.

Here it is in all it's felted glory:

I felted it twice. Three times would probably have been better in terms of stability, but I didn't have enough yarn to do the full 60 rounds called for. So the bag is a bit short. Also, the fulling process did not completely take care of the little gaps in the knitting that the slub yarn created in the thinnest part of the yarn.

So it was an okay project where I used up some yarn that would have never gotten used. This'll be a gift to someone. Lap, gimme your address as I think this would make a lovely purse for a little girl.

That socks! (yuk yuk)

So for a while now I have been trying to knit socks. I bought the tiny tiny needles. I bought books. I bought sock yarn. I've started socks and ripped them out. I've started other socks and they sit languishing on the needles. What IS my problem? I know how to knit, I know how to yarn over, how to make short rows. Yet, I can't seem to "get" sock knitting. I bought more sock yarn, because I'm pretty sure if I find the"perfect" yarn then sock knitting will come to me magically.

Part of the problem (I think) is that starting a sock off by knitting from the cuff down is completely boring. There. I said it. So I tried WendyKnits' generic toe up sock pattern. It's a good pattern ladies. Problem is, I'm not in love with the provisional cast on.

So I went over to Knitty to see if they had anything to help me. They did.

In the new Knitty there's an article called Magic cast on for Toe Up Socks . I haven't knit socks on two circulars (yet) so I did some fiddling with the double pointed needles. Lo and behold:

THAT'S A TOE PEOPLE! It's downright fabulous, if I do say so myself. Now I am excited about knitting socks.

I knit it up with this yarn here (Greenwood Fiberworks handpainted cotton sock yarn with lycra). It's the same yarn that I showed you a photo of in my last post. Doesn't it look pretty all nicely wound on the ball winder?

There is however, something a little disturbing about this yarn. And no it's not the fact that I'm getting 10 sts to the inch instead of the 9 sts it is supposedly supposed to knit up. (I'm not a tight knitter so what the hell is up with THAT? I guess my mileage does vary)

This yarn is dirty. Well, not dirty. But it has these weird dried dark flecks of something in it. And when I knit it turns lengths of the yarn a blue/ purple/ dingy grey color. My money is on dried dye that wasn't properly rinsed out. I've never had this happen before. I'm hoping it washes out.

There is currently no progress on the blue sock. But you knew that, didn't you? I did change the Brittany needles out so that I could use them on the pink socks.

I can hear you asking me why I did that, since I don't love these needles. Actually, they're better with this yarn than with the opal.

I did buy some new needles. They're called ChiaoGoo. I was all set to fall in love with them.

They're bamboo, with nice pointy points. And a really nice gloss of the shaft and tip (heeeee).

Of course there was a problem. See the writing on the needle? It's been lasered into the wood. Which was snagging the cotton in my yarn. And also? Making me crazy. Of which I do not need help. I'll try these with the opal. After I sand them down a little.

I nearly forgot about this yarn. I bought it when I bought the artyarn and the Chiaogoo needles and then piled other yarn on top of it. It's purple!

This came in the mail for me yesterday:

Pirate bag!

My stepmom knitted and felted it for me. Of course this was promised to me around Christmas. Damn knitters, they always take forever... ahem.

To be honest, I think this bag has been done for a few months, as my stepmom is a monster speed knitter. I also think she's STILL pissed off at me for not flying her out here in February when I sent my dad a ticket to come visit me for the weekend. It came to me thrown in a box, not de-fuzzed, and no note. Soooo. Hmmmph. Still pissed. Whatever. Maybe I'll use it as a demonstration on how I get the fuzz off felt.

K. Going to knit on the pink sock. Yay!

Let's get ready to Rumble....

2006-04-21T11:03:00.000-07:00

So far , in the scoring, it's Dew Cardigan: 5 Wendy: 0.

If you'll notice in the WIP meter I've moved the DEW line back to 1%. Sigh.

In my previous post I had briefly mentioned that lace was smarter than me.

WAY smarter than me.

While knitting this in the Kid silk Haze I ripped back and cast on 3 times. Then I cast on with a different yarn. And then I ripped THAT back. Twice. Because SSK really does mean slip knitwise and NOT K2tog tbl. Hmmmph.

Did I mention that I'm allergic to mohair? I think I did but I might want to emphasize that I am allergic to mohair( and angora and some alpaca). And to needles with shitty points for picking up lace.

So i reimagined this project with a different yarn and needles.

What did I get? Well, this is what I decided to go with. For now:

It's artyarns ultramerino4 in teal. It's very nice to knit, however I don't think it's right for this pattern. It might be better for socks.

I did find some very pointy needles to knit this:

Here's a close-up of the tips:

Suprizingly, these are Susan Bates Quicksilver circular knitting needles. I usually hate Susan Bates needles.

They're not perfect though. The cable part of the needle feels and bends like uncooked spaghetti. And the join? Well, here's a photo:

The join sucks.

Speaking of socks... I was speaking of socks at some point, wasn't I? Anyway, here's the progress on the "dad" sock:

(shhhhh! These socks are really for Jonathan, but don't tell him okay?)

These are being knit in Opal Prisma in Navy on us size 1 Brittany 5" birch needles.
What do I think of the birch? Meh. They're kinda bendy, and I'm not a huge fan of the points.

I got some new sock yarn in the mail. You know, because I really needed some more sock yarn.

Yarn porn? Okay!

I got this on etsy.com. It's cotton sock yarn made with lycra. Because some people (cough*jonathan*cough) think that wool might be too hot too wear. Maybe those socks I'm knitting really are for my dad. (on a side note- why is it that all the men in my life have size 11.5 or 12 feet? Big feet = a lotta knitting on little needles)

And last, but certainly not least let's look at the the progress on the booga bag:

I haven't cast off yet. I wanted to knit the i-cord before I ran out of yarn. Here's the i-cord:

Why is it that when you need 6 feet of i-cord you can knit for miles and and yet you only have 4 feet? Seriously.

I can't remember what the hell kind of yarn this is. I bought it on SuperBowl Sunday when this yarn shop I've never been in was having a sale. It's a slub yarn, so I'm not really sure how it's going to felt. But hey, it's wool. It'll felt.

I should finish this by tomorrow. And then? Then I can FELT it. In my own washer. Heh.

It's starting to look like a blog!

2006-04-20T18:59:00.000-07:00

So nothing new to report on the yarn buying front. I mean, I bought some new yarn, but I'll wait until it shows up to distribute the yarn porn. All I will say is that it's cotton and lycra AND it's hand dyed.

I've done a little redecorating on here. If you'll look to your right you'll see that I put in a notify list. That's right! A special Yarnhoar notifylist of it's very own. I have another blog, as some of you know, but I'm not linking it here. This is the "public" diary. The other one, because I would rather not get dooced, is not so public.

Also, if you divert your attention back to the right you'll see that I now have WIP bars. Squeeee! A big THANK YOU to this Cool Chick for the help and letting me ~~steal~~ hotlink her images. She's nice like that. And she has cute cats.

Ok, I've got to go to a birthday fondue party. Maybe tomorrow I'll post photos of my WIP's.

Thank god Jesus has risen

2006-04-16T23:00:00.000-07:00

Which means that I can buy more yarn. Thanks Jesus!

I bought some sock yarn (Opal). And then I went crazy and bought this:

It's Kim Hargreaves' cardigan called "DEW". I bought the color in "heavenly". I love the color, but I do have a problem knitting with mohair. All the little hairs get in my eyes. So I'm thinking of getting a cashmere or merino 2 ply and knitting it up in that.

So after I tried knitting the pattern for the back without swatching I did something really bold...

I tried swatching it so that I could figure out the lace pattern. Because the lace was way smarter than me.

On a side note: Do you think it would be gauche of me to return the Lantern Moon 14" 4mm ebonies I bought to knit this thing? They only have the tiniest amount of blood on them from when I stabbed myself in the eyes because the points SUCK for picking up lace.

More later on the next yarn purchase...

details...details....

2006-03-28T22:27:00.000-08:00

For LAP:

The pattern was BETTY from Knitty.com's "Sex and the Knitty" issue. Without going over there and checking I think it was the summer issue from 2005.

I knit this with Cascade Fixation on size 5 (U.S.) addi turbos (my favorite needles, btw). It was knit straight (not in the round). I had to fiddle with the pattern a little bit to get the correct stitch count and gauge. I also cheated and went to the fabric store and bought the trim, rather than making the ruffle, because seriously, who has time for that?

It was also my first time doing yarn overs. I had to rip it back twice before I got the hang of the YO's. If there's a way to fix a fucked up YO I haven't stumbled upon it as of yet.

I'm a self taught knitter for the most part (my grandma taught me when I was 10, but I stopped pretty soon after that and didn't pick it up again for 20+ years) so a lot of what I do is trial and error.

Which leads me to a question:

How long have you been knitting and who taught you?

Answers in my comments, please!

Why yes, I do get paid to knit.

2006-03-27T21:31:00.000-08:00

This is what I do at work to keep myself out of trouble. Seriously, working on a tv show is boring.

Anyway, I got the pattern (Betty!) from knitty.com. Go there and look at all the beautiful things.

I'll be making this site much more habitable as soon as I'm not ~~knitting~~ working 70 hours a week.

How many blogs can one girl have?

2006-03-25T15:37:00.000-08:00

Apparently as many as I want.

As soon as I get off my crazy show I will be making this into my knit blog.