Not Dead

I’ve decided to merge my two blogs, mostly because I’m too lazy to update both, so now there is only Indiscriminate Postings. I will leave Knitty Ripper up, but any future knitting posts will be made to that blog instead, since knitty things could be considered indiscriminate, but not all indiscriminate things are knitty. Make sense?

So anyway, I'm still around... Head over there for more posts coming soon.

It's Almost Here

Fall is coming. I know this because football season is here. And I loves me some football! The sucky part is that we no longer have TV service, so we can’t enjoy watching the game from the comfort of our living room. But on the plus side, nachos taste so much better when someone else makes them (and brings them right to you, and then does the dishes). For those days when we are too cheap or lazy to go out, there is always the radio- and it wouldn’t surprise me if we could watch some games live via the innerwebs.

For me, football and knitting go hand in hand. The weather is getting cooler, which makes knitting much more pleasant; and the games provide the perfect backdrop for all but the most complicated projects. During my favorite team’s games, I will knit things that do not require much attention, like a plain sock. During other games, I might work on something that requires some attention, but will allow me to look up once in a while. These are usually projects in which it is easy to figure out where I am in the row after I look up when something interesting happens, then look back down only to realize I have no idea where I left off. I might start another pair of Hedera socks just for those games- they are pretty easy to read once you learn the pattern.

Of course, you wouldn’t guess fall is on the way with the weather we’ve been having recently. On those days when the temps nearly shot into the triple digits, all I could do was look at my woolly socks with contempt (for the weather, not my socks). Speaking of socks, though, I did finish a pair:


The Skittles Socks. Modeled in my awesome, awesome shoes of joy. Now I’m working on another pair of socks for Cass with Creatively Dyed Tradewinds in Hana. I just sort of picked a pattern out of a pattern book and went with it. Hopefully they’ll turn out okay.


I haven't really made any progress on anything else. There may have been some thoughts about attempting some Christmas knitting, but I haven't decided if it's worth the stress. You know what? Sitting here, just now, I decided it isn't. And that's my Christmas present to myself. I'm gonna knit myself some stuff instead. After Cass's socks of course...

Not Much Of An Update But...

My new shoes came yesterday! I got these cuties just to wear with hand-knit socks. I think they do the job quite well...


They are the Doc Martens Alison in Grizzly. I love them, and they are perfect. They've only been worn about the house so far, but seem very comfortable. And they are cute, but won't look overly dressy with jeans and a tee shirt. Most importantly, they are a great showcase for socks!

Now I just have to knit more socks. Honestly, I have barely been knitting at all the past couple weeks. Every few days I'll add and inch or so to my current sock project, but that's it.

I did pick up a couple sweaters' worth of yarn at the Eleganza Midnight Madness sale last weekend. I got a bunch of Noro Silk Garden for me, and some Ella Rae Classic for Scott. I'd like to make him another sweater for this winter- probably something simple and basic (the way he likes), and warm. He rides his motorcycle all year round, and maybe a nice wool sweater will help keep him warm. I also got some Aussi Sock and Poems Sock yarn. Gotta churn out more socks to wear with my new shoes!


OK, off I go to not be lazy and knit some more socks...

Blargh.

I’ve hit another knitting slump. It seems my mojo is taking a vacation for a while, leaving me with little desire to do anything that requires brainpower… so working on the Bohus is right out. In fact, I sort of blame the Bohus for this slump- I think it temporarily zapped all my knitterly energy. While waiting for the tank to refill, I did manage to start working on a bed for Spencer.

His little doggy bed is starting to look a little ragged, and a washing did little to help. I got to thinking that a felted bed might not be a bad idea. The wool would be nice and toasty in the cooler months, and I could put 4” foam in the bottom, ensuring it would be nice and squishy for his aging butt (the store bought beds never seem all that comfy with their meager 2” or so of squish). In any case, figuring out the design would prove tricky but starting the knitting was a perfect no-mojo project. I wanted to use up a bunch of leftover Patons Classic from the stash, of which I had one skein or less each of five different colors. Honestly I just sort of cast on with a very basic idea and the hope that it would work out. I wanted the main part to have sort of a Log Cabin look to it- that facilitated using many colors with little attention needed. I would just work the garter strip until I got bored, then change colors. The center block is actually a bit big, but I think it might be fun to needle-felt a “S” in the space to fill it up.


One day at work I managed to create a little 3D model out of graph paper, so I could sort of figure out how to do this with as little seaming as possible. I still haven’t completely figured that part out, and will probably just wing it as I go. As long as my dimensions are consistent for each side, it should be fine. I am armed with the knowledge that felting shrinks the fabric about 30%, and foam is easy to cut to size. The only problem I’m worried about is how to felt it. I don’t think the finished piece will fit in the pillowcase I would normally use, and I don’t want to ruin the washer. Maybe I’ll try to do it by hand in the tub. If anything, that will be good exercise.


Also during this slump, I’ve been planning another project: an adult Tomten. I plan to do it in Noro Kureyon (thought about Poems, too, but I like Kureyon’s colors better). I’ve played around with the numbers, so now I just have to order the yarn and get started. I really hope it will come out the way I see it in my head.

And lastly, picked this up at Lowes over the weekend:


A foam alphabet mat set for blocking. Thanks to Ravelry, I not only learned of the usefulness of said foam mats, but also that 26 square feet for $17 is a pretty good deal. Now I just have to knit something to block on them...

It's Not Just Me, Right?

I can't be the only one that has Kitchen Knitting, right?


Or dining room knitting?



And it only makes sense to keep two knitting projects on the coffee table- one complicated (for quiet, alone, knitting time)...


...and one simple (for all the other times).


It also makes perfect sense to have knitting books in more than one place, because you never know when inspiration will hit you.




One should always keep a well-stocked knitting bag in case you need to grab it on the way out.


But I bet there's an emergency project in your car, too, in case you get caught off guard.


So I'm not the only one, right? Other knitters do this too? I thought so. Now can someone explain that to my husband? Please? Everytime he asks me to put my knitting stuff away all I can think is, "But it's exactly where it's supposed to be!"

Madame Self Pattern

I’m not a real designer; I just play one on the innerwebs. The following pattern has not been tested, so if you find a problem please let me know and I’ll fix it. You can leave a comment, contact me on Ravelry (I’m Stinkytinky).
The Madame Self Bag


Wisdom Yarns Poems, color #585, 4 skeins (436 yds)
Size 9 needles, or size needed to get gauge
Darning needle
Magnetic snap
One pretty button (mine is 1.25")
Hot glue gun

Gauge before felting: 14 st over 4” in garter stitch

I emphatically suggest knitting a swatch, measuring gauge, and then felting it to make sure you like the way it felts up. Also, Poems has sort of a reputation for having several knots which often disrupt the striping sequence. If you’re the persnickety sort, this is something to watch for. I think (while it’s still sort of a pain) that it adds character and didn’t worry about it.

Note that the measurements given on my sad, little schematic are approximate. It’s a lot easier in this case to just increase and decrease to the correct stitch count, as the size doesn’t need to be exact.

The bag is knit starting with the strap…


Cast on 10 s., knit every row for approx. 25” or 150 rows.

Begin increases*:
Row 1) Kfb, k to last st, kfb
Row 2) K

*I stuck a stitch marker through the fabric on the side facing me when it was time to increase or decrease, as a visual cue.

Repeat these two rows until there are 64 st, ending with Row 2.


Begin decreases:
Row 1) K2Tog, K to last 2 sts, K2Tog
Row 2) K

Repeat these two rows until there are 20 sts, ending with Row 2.


Increase:
Row 1) Kfb, k to last st, kfb
Row 2) K

Repeat these two rows until there are 64 st, ending with Row 2.


Add the button flap (I added a short row to give the flap a bit of a flare):

With the working yarn, CO 15 sts, and knit 8 rows even. Next row: knit 16 st, wrap stitch & turnª. K back to end of row. Knit 8 rows even. Cast off 15 sts.

ªTo wrap and turn: yarn forward as if to purl, slip next stitch purlwise, yarn back as if to knit, return slipped stitch to left needle, turn work.


Decrease:
Begin decreases:
Row 1) K2Tog, K to last 2 sts, K2Tog
Row 2) K

Repeat these two rows until there are 20 sts, ending with Row 2.


Increase:
Row 1) Kfb, k to last st, kfb
Row 2) K

Repeat these two rows until there are 64 st, ending with Row 2.


Decrease:
Begin decreases:
Row 1) K2Tog, K to last 2 sts, K2Tog
Row 2) K

Repeat these two rows until there are 10 sts, ending with Row 2. Bind off, leaving a tail long enough to seam the end of the strap (2-3 feet).


(sorry about my chicken scratch- along the right side, the measurements read 8.5", 7", 7", 3", 7", 7", 8.5")

Finishing:

Pick the side you want to be the outside. With right (outside) sides facing, whipstitch together edges A to A, B to B, and so forth, ending with attaching the strap end (E to E) with the yarn tail, being careful to make sure the strap isn’t twisted. Weave in ends on the inside. Felt the bag. I did it by hand at first, then when that proved to be rather tedious, put it in the machine. I then dried it in the drier to further shrink it. Watch it closely through the felting process to make sure it’s not felting in some renegade fashion.


Once dry, it’s time to add the snap and button! I followed the package directions on my magnetic snap to attach it the bag, using an Exacto knife to cut small holes where needed. Wind a bit of leftover yarn through the holes in the button**; this may require some creativity. My darning needle wouldn’t fit all the way through the little holes, so I used it to sort of smash the yarn through so I could pull it through the other side. It occurs to me now that a sewing needle threader might do the trick. Once the yarn is wound through the holes a few times, knot it on the back. Warm up your glue gun, and apply a glob of glue to the ugly side of the magnetic snap on the purse flap then quickly stick on the button. If necessary, add more glue to secure the button to the bag. Loudly proclaim, “I made it Madame Self!”

**The goal is not only to make it look like the button is sewn on, but also to fill up the holes a bit so that hot glue doesn’t ooze through or so people can’t see right through to the metal snap behind it. So you may need to wrap the yarn several times to accomplish this.


Use this pattern however you want, wherever you want; just don’t plagiarize!

Wheeee!

They're here!

My Phildar patterns! Straight from France! You know, I think I'm going to start ordering everything from Europe... it seems to get here so fast compared to stuff that just travels across the country (this order was placed on the 23rd!). If memory serves, the Bohus kit from Sweden got here in about a week too.

88 patterns in all, for about $28. Not bad considering more than half of that was shipping!

I started the Bohus, as promised, but am only a couple rows into the colorwork so far. No pictures yet, maybe by the end of the week.

Also, I should have a pattern for the bag up tomorrow. I'd have it up now, except that I forgot to email myself the schematic I drew and scanned at work. Thus, it remains trapped in the server until tomorrow!

I'm On a Roll

I've got another finished project! The felted bag is done. And it rocks my socks off. Here it is all sewn up, prior to felting (with 12" ruler for scale):

And here it is post felting:



Ok, granted it's a little impractical given that the middle is too shallow to hold very much, but it's super cute. And it will hold a phone, keys, sunglasses, and a small wallet, which is all you really need for quick trips to the store and whatnot. My big, everyday wallet won't fit (it's the type that holds everything you could possibly need in any situation), so I'm thinking of making a smaller little wallet to match with the leftover yarn- just a little pocket sized thing to hold an ID, some cash, and couple credit cards.

The button is merely decorative, and hides the back of a magnetic snap. I looped some extra yarn through the button hole, then hot glued it in place. In all honesty, I probably could have just skipped the snap, and sewed the button on so that it sewed the bag shut at that point. It's so shallow and open on both sides of the little flap, that I doubt I'll ever have to really use the snap.

Now that it's done, I suppose I should stick to my word and start the Bohus. Ok, deep breath... Here I go.

Can't Believe I Forgot This

One thing I forgot to mention in the last post... it starts with a goofy story.

At the last knit night, a Borders employee, Shawn, asked the group to knit him a scarf for his semester abroad- in Paris. Instantly, a fire sparked right under my ass. I took French my freshman year of high school, and again for a semester in college. I love the language, and have always wanted to go to France, blah blah blah. Anywho, every now and then I freak the shit out and listen to the French (technically Quebecois) channels on Sirius, and listen to French podcasts, and rent French films, and just generally obsess for a week or so until something else distracts me. But anytime I hear someone speak French, or just mention something about France, the interest is renewed.

Now go back a little further, to a few weeks ago. I was on Ravelry, and browsing through the new patterns. I saw a pattern, clicked, and instantly became dismayed. The pattern was from a Phildar pattern collection. Meaning it was in French, and likely not available in the states at all.

Back to present day: I've got all these Francophone thoughts bumping around in my head, and a lot of free time on my hands. So one day at work, I look up French knitting websites, and stumble upon Phildar's website. Long story short, it turns out I have retained just enough French to navigate a website and drop 20 Euros on patterns. I'm so excited I could pee a little.

And yes, I realize I'll have to translate the patterns. But even English patterns look like a new language when you first learn to knit, and I got through that okay. I looked at a couple free French patterns, and I think I can figure it out.

Also, yes Phildar has an English version of their site. But the English site will only let you purchase English patterns (of which there are 9 pattern books), whereas on the French site, there are 58 (!) pattern books to choose from.

My biggest problem now is that I'm dying to know what their yarn is like. I bet it's awesome. I also bet it won't be too long before I decide to find out.

Finally, a FO!

The Leaf Tee is done!

It came out quite well, but is a tiny bit bigger than I would prefer. But it's still great, and not so big that it looks terrible (I hope). I really like it.

I'm working on the Hedera's a little bit here and there, and I've gotten one gusset done, and am working on the other. Mainly, I've been working on my purse.


It's a little more than half done, I'm really excited to see how it will turn out.

Today I discovered that my knitting bag fits perfectly in one of my desk drawers. Open the drawer, knit knit knit... Oh! Here comes the boss man! Close the drawer. Problem solved. Mwah hahahaha. Stealth knitting FTW!

Still thinking about the Bohus, too. I think I'll start it when the purse is finished. That way, it can be my Project That Requires Thinking, and I'll have a couple of pairs of mindless socks on the side, to break up the monotony. I get the feeling that the colorwork will go quickly, and I'll stall on the body/sleeves. Hmm. I may need to come up with some sort of reward system to combat this. Or something punitive- that might work better. I respond well to threats.

Lastly, I'm still also screwing around with these socks, but I can't decide what I really want to do with them. Right now, I have a row of crossed stitches in the ribbing (a few rows from the needles), but I'm not sure they'll stay that way. It's hard to see, and I'm not sure I like that. Hell, maybe I'll just keep going. I am pretty lazy, and at worst they'll just look like plain ol' ribbed socks.

I'm still chugging along on the Leaf T-shirt, and it's getting close to being finished. In a stunning move of stupidity, I have yet to throw it on some waste yarn and try it on (which really should have been done when I cast off the arm holes or shortly thereafter). I really hope it won't be too big... If my math is right, it is 34.5" across the chest, which should be okay. At least this time I'm certain I have enough yarn!

The Hedera socks are sort of in limbo- I've gotten to the gusset on one, but that's it. Lazy daisy. In it's place I've started another project- a felted bag. I saw a pattern for a bag (Rav link) by Noro, and thought it looked pretty easy to reverse-engineer. So I got out some graph paper, did a little math, knit and felted a swatch, did some more math, and cast that sucker on. I'm doing it with Wisdom Yarns Poems. This yarn is giving me a minor headache with knots interrupting color repeats, but otherwise I like it.


We ditched cable a couple of weeks ago, so I've been trying to find new things to watch or listen to while knitting. Movies are one choice, but I've seen everything we own a zillion times, and renting would probably wind up being more expensive than cable was (although I am looking into Netflix). So mostly I've been using interweb resources, and it's great. iTunes has been my favorite source- they have several classic radio stations, with old-timey crime and drama and such, which I love. And of course there are endless podcasts. I'm subscribed to a several knitting podcasts, and I also poke around the paranormal and ghosty ones too. Then there's also Hulu.com, which has free TV and movies. It seems like most TV shows are on the internet for free somewhere, which is fantastic.

I joined a Bohus group on Ravelry, and I'm hoping it will inspire me to finally get started on my sweater. I don't know why it scares me so much. Probably just a fear of failure. Horrible, humiliating, demoralizing, failure. Yeah, maybe that's it.

My Name is Amanda...

...and I think I have a problem. A knitting problem. Not the dropped stitch type of problem, but the omg I can't stop kind. Yesterday I decided I need a new pair of shoes to better show off hand knit socks this fall. Last night I stayed up well past my bedtime to start another pair of socks, just to see how the yarn would knit up. And today, well, today a red flag went up. I was in my office (really half an office, divided by a cubical wall-type-partition), when the CEO came in the lab. Now, my boss doesn't mind all that much if I knit while it's slow- so long as my work gets done. But there is sort of an unspoken agreement that I do not brazenly knit out in the open (except for at lunch) as to not make waves, or make either of us look bad. But today, when the CEO came in, I kept knitting, hidden by the partition. If he had taken a step inside the office, or even looked from the right angle at the doorway, he could have caught me knitting. But I couldn't stop. Truth be told, I don't know that I would have even gotten in trouble- maybe he wouldn't have cared? But it was a risky move... One that floated the realization that I care more about knitting than employment from subconscious to conscious.

The worst part is that I've never been reprimanded in any way for knitting while at work... so it's like accidental positive reinforcement. Today I brought my ball winder, and frogged the whole Leaf Tee, then started it over. I'm only 4 or 5 rounds into it, but so far so good. I showed my boss the ball winder, but he was less impressed than I expected. I guess it's hard to be impressed with a ball winder unless you've spent countless hours winding balls of yarn by hand. But he does enjoy discovering all the funny little parallels between knitting and winding fiber optic coils. He says next time we need to hire another winder, he's going to start with knitting groups and LYSs, haha.

I'm making decent progress on the Hedera socks. The heel flap is done on one, and halfway there on the other. The pattern calls for ridiculously long heel flaps though (48 rows long!), so I just went until I had a nice square like I usually do (about 34 rows). I love these socks. The lace pattern was easy to memorize, and they're so pretty.

The other pair of socks is in Red Heart Heart and Sole, and the colorway reminds me of Tropical Skittles. I've barely started, and I'm dying to know if/how the colors will pool.

Scott and I have been stocking up on art supplies for his new job, and naturally while we're at various craft stores, I drift to the yarn section. I got the Red Heart and some Bernat Sox to see what it's like. The Bernat is an acrylic/nylon blend, for anyone interested in a non-wool sock yarn (*coughKymcough*). I also picked up a skein of the new Michaels line, Impeccable. With that, I made a little coaster for my desk, and it isn't the most awesome thing to work with, but it doesn't suck either. If the knit up samples are a good indicator, it seemed to be softer than everything but the Vanna's Choice. But I liked knitting with the Impeccable better than Vanna's- Vanna's seemed more plasticy in my hands. I'm curious to see what the Bernat will be like.

Needed: Brains

Something is amiss lately... Not sure what it is, but my mind feels a bit moldy. Take my Leaf Tee for instance. Last week, I noticed I was down to my last ball of yarn, yet the top was only a couple inches past my boobs. There is no way that one ball would make more than 4" or so of the top, but I kept going. I should not have. I should have thought about it more, and decided that maybe knitting a bit too tight had become a big problem. A big yarn consumption problem.

When I started, I didn't even check my gauge because it was a top-down raglan, and I thought it wouldn't really matter. I must have been stressed out when I started the project, because my stitches were pretty tight. Of course, I didn't even notice for a week or so (when less stressed), and by then I thought it was easier to just keep going tightly, rather that rip it out. MISTAKE! I now have a shirt that barely reaches my belly-button, and I'm all out of yarn. And to make this worse (and actually quite embarrassing), I thought I could fix it. Yup. When I got to that last ball, I thought, "Maybe if I loosen up a little, the yarn will stretch further and it'll be okay." So what I actually have is a top that barely reaches my belly-button, and flares out considerably in the last few inches. Very flattering indeed!

There are no pictures of my shame. It is condemned to a cheap plastic bag, where it will remain until my memory fades. Then I will frog the whole thing, and redo it. I really liked the pattern and yarn, and dammit I'm going to finish this thing if it kills me. And hopefully next time I won't also botch the lace panel in two places- I blame that on the half-empty bottle of amaretto in my kitchen. Lucky for me, looser gauge = less stitches = will go faster this time.

But for now, I'm turning back to the Hedera socks, on the lovely signature needles. I've got the cuff of this one done, and about half the cuff on the second. I love them.

I'm going to go work on them right now...

Sorry it's been so long since my last post- the past few weeks have been pretty hectic both at work and at home. So let's see... last time I posted was Sheep and Wool. The stripey baby blanket was finished, and came out okay. I could have sworn I took pictures, but they seem to have disappeared, so you'll have to imagine it. I did get lazy, and stopped when it seemed just big enough (leaving two unused balls of yarn, and a small bit of my sanity).

I restarted the Hedera socks on my swanky new Signature needles, and they are awesome. I haven't had much time to work on them, but the needles really are great.

I've been working on a little shrug with Patons Brilliant:

It's the Vine Lace Shrug(Rav link), and it's the first actual project in which I'm doing the backwards-knitting thing. So far it's working out! I actually started this last month, but like most of my knitting, it's been largely ignored since then.

My least-ignored project is probably this:

Leaf T-Shirt with Cascade Cotton Rich DK. I really like how this is coming along, and it might even be finished in time to wear it this summer.

Over the weekend, I picked up Sock Innovation, the Cookie A. book. It's really interesting. She packed that sucker full of information- inverting stitches, converting tricky stitch patterns from flat to round, and all sorts of other helpful design tidbits. And the patterns are okay too. :P

Wow. It's been three weeks and that's all I got. Jebus, this post makes me feel like such a slacker. I gotta go knit something.

Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival was loads more fun this year than last. The secret was using my Blackberry. No really! I put in reminders for all the stuff I wanted to see (shearing demo, sheep show, sheep dogs, etc.) so they wouldn't be missed. And I put a list in it with all the stuff I wanted to look for. It was a total success. Well, nearly total. Close enough. There were a couple things I didn't see- perhaps I wasn't looking hard enough. I missed purse handles and Kauni, but that was it.

I got there early, at about 7:30. Walked around a bit and made note of a few vendors' locations, and saw the sheep getting cleaned up for the Sheep Show. Around 8, I wandered over to see said show, but only stuck around for 15 min. or so. Judging sheep isn't very exciting to watch, at least not when your other option is finding yarn. I walked around some more, and tried to locate some of the key booths I wanted to see. By 8:30, some of the vendors were open for business. I scoped out Jennie the Potter's booth, and bought a button (which is now doing an excellent job of keeping my shawl on my shoulders).

While perusing the Main Exhibition Hall, I made the deadly, deadly mistake of test driving some Signature Needles. They are AWESOME. I walked away with two sets of size 1 DPNs. I'm so starting a pair of socks when this blog is done.

In one the barns, a local artist, Alyson Jentz, had some great prints. I've got a thing for elephants, and decided this needed to come home with me:

I love her bats and owls, too.

Mostly there was a lot of walking a looking, and looking and walking. The rain seemed to keep some the crowds away, at least for a bit. Eventually, I bought some Malabrigo Lace and Sock at Uncommon Threads. Mmmmalabrigo... And afterwards walked straight across into the Creatively Dyed Yarn booth. The colors really caught my eye, and I wound up getting a whole bunch of solid-ish worsted for a stripey cardigan and couple sock yarns there.

At that point, I decided to unload and have a snack in the car. While doing so, the rain pretty much stopped, and people arrived in droves. Afterwards, I saw the sheep dogs do their thing- which was really interesting. Now I want a border collie.

When I went to look at yarn again, some of the barns were so packed I could barely squeeze through. Luckily, at the Autumn House Fiber Works booth, I got stuck right in front of these puppies:

Oh yeah. I've been wanting one of these since my recent episode with a sock project, and the first one I picked up was 5", just like the new 5" Signature Needles in my bag. It was fate.

Shortly afterwards, I ran into Cinnamon and Angela from the local knitting meet-up. We had a chat, and then it was off to buy more yarn. At Angela's suggestion, I visited the Cloverhill booth. There I picked up a couple skeins of sock yarn, but no Serendipitous Ewe- not for lack of trying. I looked, but didn't see it... I'm hoping she sold out (but it's also possible I'm blind). That's okay though, I'm pretty sure I know where I can find some more. :)

All in all, this is my yarn haul for the day:

Not too shabby. And I only exceeded my budget by 30%! I think I'm going to start saving for next year's Sheep and Wool right now.

MD Sheep and Wool!

It’s that time of year again! And this time, I’ve vowed to have a better plan than “Show up. Buy stuff. Leave when money is gone.” So I’ve created a Plan of Attack, which lists all the things I’m interested in seeing and getting in order of time and/or importance. My vendor list is highlighted with a few notes, my fairgrounds map is marked up, and I’ve made lists of things to bring in both my bag and car. I’m taking every precaution, and planning for the worst (cold, rain, lots of mud). Scott has some sort of motorcycle party going on the same weekend, so I’m on my own this year- meaning no supervision or voice of reason to keep me in check. I’ll have to do my best to exercise some restraint (hahahaha!). It’s just hard to look at Scott’s Boner-Inducing Death Rocket (his Ducati) and not think that I should be entitled to the equivalent value in yarn. Especially since yarn requires much cheaper equipment/accessories, will not likely maim or kill me, and doesn’t need things like insurance and registration. But I digress…

Last year I missed a lot of stuff in all the excitement (plus I tend to get extra forgetful when frazzled), so this time I’m hoping it will be less overwhelming. I’m trying to focus on seeing and smooshing things I haven’t seen in person before, and only buying things I can’t get any other time. That second part probably won’t happen, though. I’m weak willed. I’ve also vowed to see the sheep dogs this year, especially since Scott would like to get a border collie one day.

Another thing I want to do this year? Take more freakin’ pictures! I’m even attempting to learn about my camera’s settings to make sure I get good ones.

Sorry there haven't been many knitty blog updates. Knitting has taken a backseat to painting the house the past couple of weeks, so there just isn't anything to update. But Sunday should be filled with glorious Maryland Sheep and Wool news!

This Is Epic (to me)

Here's the thing. I've been knitting for many years now, and I feel as though I've really advanced- especially during the past couple years. But I still have this problem with stockinette stripes... I thought it would go away with experience, but so far, no luck. My purling is just super loose, no matter how much I try to tighten up the tension. Well, perhaps it's time for a change.

I started a swatch with some (rather unforgiving) cotton left over from Cass's sweater. On the first half of the swatch, I knit and purled my usual way- continental. After a couple inches, I tried something new. I knit continental, then instead of purling, I knit backwards, English style. Anyway, just look at the difference:



I'm pretty amazed. I can't believe the massive difference, and I only wish I had done this sooner. Now here's the downside: Knitting 4 rows the old way took 2 min, 57 sec. 4 rows the new way takes 5 min, 16 sec. That's a lot slower. But look how much nicer it looks! I think it's worth it.

I'm also going to use this swatch in a little experiment: I'm going to wash it every time I put in a load of laundry, and see how long it takes for the stitches to even out (if they ever do). Science!

Crap.

I discovered a possible flaw with my new bag: It might be a little too deep. And therefore dark and hard to see inside. Especially at the bottom. So when I reach in for my sock and pull out what I think are the extra DPNs, I actually pull out the needles in the sock. Bummer. At least there was only an inch or so done. And I thing the solution for this is to make or purchase some DPN project holders.

Hey! I Did It!

I sewed! I'm a sewer! Wait, that's not right...

But there it is. I made a knitting bag. It even has pockets on the inside- one specifically for a phone, and one for my notions tin (by the way, thanks goes to the ladies at knit night- mainly Sandy- for pointing out the awesomeness of gift card tins for this purpose)...

And on the other side are two larger pockets for whatever, they are large enough to hold an 8x10" piece of paper folded in half...

It's big enough to hold a sweater-sized project, I think. Below, it's holding my crocheted blanket and the socks (from the last post) and it's only about halfway full. We'll see.

And it has just one strap the way I like (if there are two, one always seems to slip off my shoulder).

The biggest problem I encountered was that my buttonhole wasn't big enough for my button. It was the first button hole I ever made on a sewing machine, and didn't know how big it should be in comparison to the button. I tried to make it the same size, but it didn't quite work out. Luckily, I had one that was a perfect fit, so it all worked out. I still have some concerns about the strength of my seams, but in the worst case I'll just have to make some repairs.

I'm actually quite proud of my little bag, as I haven't sewn anything more challenging than a hem since Home-Ec in junior high school. And I'm excited about not having to dig around in the bottom of my bag for my phone at the next knitting meet-up. It is a little bland though... perhaps I can find a way to dress it up at a later date. And I know, the term is seamstress.