Snow calls for snow days!

I have to admit that I didn't take this picture. I got it off the website of a local new station, just to illustrate that indeed it does snow in Florence, SC! No fair, though, cause I didn't get a snow day! Here I am at work, while Mom and Vickie are at home knitting!! So many of our customers are local that we aren't even getting any phone calls.... That may have something to do with the fact that the inauguration is taking place as I type, too....


Nevertheless, I would rather be knitting.... Wouldn't I always?


I think I have decided to use the green Silky Wool from the broken kimono for the Kingscot cardigan by Norah Gaughan. Honestly, though, I have so many knitting options right now that I hardly know what to do with myself! What an awesome dilemma!!! I am working away on the Nantucket Jacket, which is coming along nicely. I have finished the back panel and one of the fronts. I am just about ready to shape the neck on the other front panel. It should be done in a couple of weeks.... If I don't get distracted by another option!


Vickie has started a sweater for our knit-along, which makes me want to start my sweater, too! She is doing something other than what we are doing, though, because she didn't like the sleeves on the one we chose. I think I am still going to do the Minimalist Cardigan from Interweave, in my beautiful teal yarn.... I may be the only one!! Mom is terribly tired of moss stitch, says that she will have to be retrained to do stockinette!


I may have found a terrible new hobby. Thanks to a terrible crafting enabler on Ravelry (I say with tongue in cheek), I have become aware of this bag:

It is a knitting bag by Amy Butler from the Sweet Life line, called the Nolita. This one is for sale, if you can find it, for a mere 75$. I say that with tongue in cheek, too. I love it dearly, of course, despite that I can't afford it and need another knitting bag like I need a hole in the head. However, pointed out by a helpful Raveler, Amy Butler sells sewing patterns for her bags! Sewing patterns!! I immediately spent 38$ buying patterns for three different bags.... And that was after I took one out of my cart. One, called Kimberly, is very similar to this one in construction. They all say advanced or difficult as the skill level. When have I ever let something like that stop me?? It looks like I am going to be sewing some bags! I am actually very excited. Last night, I spent two hours looking at fabrics online. However, it may prove to be more wise to start out with some inexpensive polished cotton from the good old Hancock Fabrics! We shall see. I usually jump in with both feet, anyway!

Now I shall go and watch the Weather Channel online for any sign that the roads are freezing, so that I can realize my dream of a snow day in South Carolina!

I FREAKING BROKE IT!!!

I have never had this happen! I simply can't believe it!!! I was tugging on my cast on edge of my kimono and THE FREAKING CAST-ON BROKE!! I had almost seven inches done, and it is ravelling from the bottom! I don't think there is any recovery from this! Jeez oh MAN! I am so frustrated with this I could scream.

In self defense, I picked up the Nantucket Jacket that I have been making for Mom. It is more complicated that I wanted to work on, but nothing on it has broken, which is more soothing than plain stockinette RUNNING FROM THE BOTTOM.

This is all giving me a headache. I think I need to lie down. Or search google for a stretchy cast-on. Sigh.

Can't knit and eat, can't knit and eat....

Today is the first day that I have been white-knuckling the diet.... I am relying heavily on knitting for its soothing, blood-pressure lowering qualities.... Especially for the magical property of not having any free hands!

Ok, I solved the delima (a word which I apparently can't spell for the life of me....) of what to do next by choosing.... drum roll please.... NONE of the aforementioned projects! I have chosen instead to work on a lovely project from the book Knit Kimono in lovely, lovely yarn that I bought on an impulsive trip to Columbia Saturday. I have been dying to knit a kimono, and I got ten hanks of Silky Wool in olive green (quell surprise) that was just begging to be knitted! The guage is significantly too small, so I am modifying the pattern (yeah me) for the very first time to hopefully make it work! I did the math for the stitch guage that I am actually getting, hoping that by increasing from 98 stitches cast on to 128 cast on that I will still get the correct width. Of course, length is easier! This first piece, however, may be deceptively easy, since it is a plain old rectangle. There are many more origami-like pieces forthcoming.... Who cares? I love this yarn, and I think it will make an awesome short kimono.... I would love to post a picture, but the energy it would take to scan the pic from the book is sadly being taken up trying not to eat any of the cats in my terrible diet starvation!

My Sipalu bag is half done. I needed something a little less intense to work on, so I will start the other side of the bag soon. This is it here at the right, in all its not-half-way-done glory.... I am very, very pleased with the way it is turning out, no major errors having cropped up yet. I have still to unravel the provisional cast on.... Which should prove quite difficult, since I failed to follow the astute advice to mark which end of the chain will actually unravel and which end won't. I guess there is some experimentation in my future! Anyway, eventually, when I tire of vast olive green expanses of kimono, I shall take up the challenge! It has been an exciting project so far, really, with all kinds of new skills learned! My mom is letting me be the scout working ahead of her so I can figure out the hard stuff.... That is ok, it ends up like a really beautiful test swatch for all kinds of things I didn't know before!

Have I mentioned all the wonderful yarn that has come into my life recently? It is yarn Nirvana. Truly. Not only did I get the Sipalu sampler kit and pretty teal alpaca yarn (hello, minimalist cardigan) for Christmas AND the previously exclaimed Silky Wool, I cashed in my generous Webs gift certificates! Yesterday when I got back from the doctor's dire warnings of blood pressure induced strokes (picture thermometers with their red mercury lines blasting through the glass dome tops), my box of awesomeness was waiting! I got the olive green (sense a pattern here) Cuzco to make Cosima, my concession to the modern shaped cardis. I got the last four skeins (with any luck at all) of Kureyon required to finish the Lizard Ridge.

And, thrown in to get the bigger Webs discount, the Cascade 220 to make the Ravenna Satchel. Instead of the colors called for, black, oranges and greens, I got the colors from a favorite pair of summertime linen pants. They are a wonderful melange of greyed down sea glass colors.... I got navy blue, kind of heathery, for the top and bottom trim. Soft pink, a seriously baby's butt color, will be the background (the only color that matches), and the flower colors are pistachio green and summer sky. The only off note is the olive green that I chose off the computer screen. It is called Turtle, and don't get me wrong, I like the color. I love all shades of olive green.... But it is truly hideous with these other colors. A major flat note, horrifyingly too much yellow to work in this pallette. I cannot emphasise the wrong-ness of this inharmonious pairing enough..... Whatever shall I do? I guess find something else waiting to be made out of Turtle colored yarn and check the stash for a back-up! Isn't that why I have a stash??

Sesame Street is brought to you today by the color olive green....

You cannot eat and knit at the same time.

Weight Watchers day five, and knitting may be my salvation! That is probably true on so many more levels than just eating! I believe I have lost three pounds in the first week, though, which is very good progress. I have accomplished that by knitting instead of eating after work and drinking two entire BUCKETS of water every day!! Strangely, I seem to have lost the urge to drink Pepsi all together. I don't know what to make of that....
I plan to FINISH something this weekend. I have too many balls of yarn in the air, and it is driving me crazy!! On the needles, at the very least, I have the Nantucket Jacket, Brenda's Brea Bag, my Lizard Ridge (almost done!!), and the Sipalu Bag. I have to pause on the latter to wait for needles with a shorter cable, which will probably drive me nutty, but it is not like I don't have plenty to work on! I need to finish Brenda's bag this weekend, really. She is asking about it. Makes me not want to work on it..... Sad but true about me!
Ok, itchy dog and I are off to the vet.... Fun, fun, fun!

Almost Finished!

Here I am, the Sunday after the holiday, and I finished almost everything. What a relief!! Susan loved her shawl, Lauren loved her bag, I think Carla liked hers.... The sock-monkey hats were a big hit, made everyone laugh, which was what I intended! Ian seemed to like his sweater, and to appreciate the I in lieu of B for Butthead. I, however, did not finish the slippers for UJ. He doesn't know about them, though, so no problem!! Roberta LOVED her stocking, and Brenda went nuts for her bag, both gratifying reactions.....
I look back, and I am pleased with the reactions. But I can't help saying, THAT was all the presents I made?? Seriously?! Since July??? It seems like a lot of obsessive knitting for such a short list. Maybe that is the anti-climatic after-holiday blues talking.... All in all, that just reinforces my vow to knit only for myself this coming year!
Now, we all know that probably isn't true.... I still have to finish the bag that Brenda commissioned. And I still have to sew Meredith's sweater together, though the knitting is done and it steam blocked beautifully! And I have the 2/3 done Nantucket jacket for Mom to finish. So, see, there will be knitting for others thrown in there.... I started off the vow right, though, by immediately knitting four blocks for my afghan. That makes me so happy!!!!
AND, Christmas presents from Mom, Susan, and UJ have done nothing but encourage me to knit for Me, Me, Me!! I got the fair isle bag kit that I wanted, and the yarn is great!! I can't wait to start that. I got the yarn for the Minimalist Cardigan for our knit-along, which I am also very excited about.... Though, since Mommy is making one for Anna, it may be a while before she wants to make another one....
That's ok, I have other stuff to work on!! Because I also got two, count 'em, two gift certificates to Webs!! Now I can finish my afghan and more.... It will require some strategy. I got 100$ in certificates, and I need four more skeins of Kureyon for the Lizard Ridge. That leaves me with bunches of certificate money left!! AND, it only makes sense to get at least 125$ worth in a single order, because they offer 25% off after that amount. So not only will I get 100$ worth of yarn, but I will get an EXTRA 25%.
What do I want the yarn for? The Sylvi? I am in love with that project, but I got discouraged by working the swatch... Hmmm.... Like I said, this will require some strategy!!

Eaten by a giant mound of knitting.

Of course, instead of finishing something that is already mostly ready to be delivered, I started a new project last night... I cast on the first of two felted slippers for UJ for Christmas. I am apparently allergic to finishing anything. Oh, well, at least the first one is going fast. I am very skeptical that this isn't going to be so very tiny that He Who Must Be Kept couldn't wear it, but we shall see. I am felting the first one before I cast on the second. (Or is that a mistake? Will that result in two radically different sized slippers? Hmmm, something to ponder.)

Does it seem weird that the only socks I have made have all been gigantic? The very first one was Roberta's stocking, and now giant socks for felting.... I seem to have a thing for gigantic socks.

Stephen (from work) and I coined a new term today, finding "second sock syndrome" to be a bit cumbersome. We have decided to call it Sock-holm Syndrome. I like it. I think it could catch on. You know you are a knitter when you have coined a phrase.... even if no-one else uses it!

Apparently I cannot knit and blog at the same time.

So, here I am again, all this time later. Now it is a perfectly good time to be obsessed with Christmas knitting! I have made it all the way to the weekend after Thanksgiving, and I still feel like there is a mountain of work to be done! Here is the Christmas list update:

1. Color Block Cardigans-done and delivered to Brenda the Friday before the holiday. They were adorable, and have cemented my hatred for tying in ends!

2. The sweater formerly known as Butthead- done but for tying in ends. Did I mention how I feel about tying in ends? I am not putting a picture here, because Butthead himself reads my blog. My one and only follower.... And he can't see his present until Christmas! (You thought I would slip up, didn't you??)

3. Lauren's bag- Changed this to a Brea bag. I still have to line it, but I found the BEST fabric for it! I got MONKEY fabric. It is so funny!! I am a little scared to start trying to line it, but I will have to bite the bullet soon....

4. Sock Monkey Hats- yes, that is right, hats! I decided that it was so funny that I had to make two. Uncle Jim, henceforth known as UJ, is lucky recipient number two. They still need their ears and their little faces embroidered on....

5. Susan's Clapotis- Oh, so beautiful. She has been copiously admiring my mom's version, so hopefully, she will be thrilled with hers. Now I want one made in the same yarn!

6. Vintage Bubble Bags- I ordered the Noro Silk Garden today to make one of these for Carla and one for Brenda from work. They work up quickly and I think they are very nice.

7. Stocking for Roberta- done but for tying in the ends and doing a hanger. (Those damned ends!!) My first large scale fair isle project and also my very first sock. It is not perfect but I am proud of the way that it turned out!

8. Hat for Chalmers- have to decide on something.... I will make this from yarn I already have, but I have to nail down a pattern this week! Very tempted to do fair isle again....

9. Brea Bag for Brenda's sister- I got Lion Brand Fisherman's wool in a beautiful taupe-y brown for this, and she is going to help me pick out the lining next week. I have one side done and can whip up the rest of it pretty quickly. I will use a belt for the handle, which I believe I found at a thrift store. I love this pattern!

10. Nantucket Jacket for Mom- finished the first front panel this morning. Since she knows about it, she is aware that it might not be done by the 25th. I am steaming away on it, though. I like this pattern, too. It is made form the Debbie Bliss Cashmarino that she bought on sale, that beautiful bright red. It is a very complicated, textured pattern, but very easy to knit somehow.... I hope it is as great as I think it will be.

11. Clogs for UJ- Don't know why I committed to knitting YET ANOTHER project before the holiday, but UJ is coming for Christmas (yeahhhh!) and we decided to beef up his present! Gotta get a pattern, will knit from stash.

Now it is clear why it has been months since I have posted, right? I haven't put the needles down for five minutes! (And Ian just fixed my wireless Internet over the weekend, thank you very much!!) I will be here... knitting, knitting, knitting, knitting, knitting......