Never Know What You Might Have Left Undefined...

Ugh. The minty shawl of goodness is coming along. Here it is in all of its glory. My camera...well, not my camera, my parents' camera is being awful today. Normally it takes lovely pictures. Pictures you can be proud of. Today, it's making everything look sick.

My shawl shouldn't look so gross. The couch usually looks that gross. But the shawl shouldn't. Anyway, you get an idea for the color (which shouldn't look that gross, damnit!) and a good idea for the stitch pattern. I kind of like it. It produces a wavy edge, looks very good, and isn't all that hard to go through and not hard to memorize at all. I love it. It's definately a favorite. The shawl is about 9.5 inches now. Out of 60. So...I've got a bit of a way to go. I got very angry yesterday and got into a fight with my younger brother. So I went outside and worked on the MSOG (Minty Shawl of Goodness) for a while. It grew. A lot. Time to update the progress bar! I'm just afraid that if I work on it while I'm upset, the "upset vibes" will transfer to the project and make it unpleasant to wear. I'm a hippie when it comes to things like that. I'll spiritually cleanse it after I'm done, as well as throw it for a turn in the washing machine (everyone in the house smokes, and there's a cute little kitty roaming around. Not something everyone needs to deal with when recieving a nice, new, knit object.)

The "Her's and Her's" Bath set is something I should be working on. It got put off to the side after my horrible attempt at duplicate and cross stitching onto the washcloth. I still haven't ripped out the failed cross stitch all the way, as evidenced in this picture. I need to work on that, though. I got more yarn for the project. Thankfully it WAS Hot purple I used on the inital washcloth. Yeah. I should get to work. I just don't want to.

I managed to go thrifting the other day to find some sweaters to pull apart for the yarn. While there, I found some lovely yarn in the craft section that I promptly picked up. Vintage Red Heart baby yarn...back when it wasn't even acrylic. It was ORLON. Which isn't the most comfortable thing in the world...but damn, I had to have it. If only for the novelty aspect. I love vintage yarn. I also got two older bags of AC Moore discount 1LB yarn bags. The labels still say "100% Unknown Fiber Content". I love playing "Guess the Fiber". It's easier, sometimes, because a lot of commercial yarns come wound a certain way. Cotton skeins are usually wound different than wool blends and wool blends are usually done differently than acrylics. At least at stores like AC Moore and Michaels. I got a bag of what I believe to be black cotton yarn, and a bag of this really nice, dark green yarn that has heathery/tweedy flecks of a muted rainbow in it. I'm guessing (and its only a guess) that its a wool blend. Wasn't there a website a few years back with a tutorial on checking fiber content based upon how the fiber burns? I wish I could remember.

Also, while there, I picked up a few sweaters in the pink and salmon color family. They will promptly be frogged for yarn. While I love getting yummy yarns for cheap, I hate frogging the sweaters. Especially the ones with the lighter weight yarns (like these).

First up is a cashmere and silk blend. While it was initially machine knit, I'm almost certain I can make some socks out of it. It's a salmon-y color, which is exactly what my mother loves. It's totally HER color. So she'll be getting cashmere/silk socks for christmas.

Then there was a gorgeous angora sweater that looked very much like it popped out of the 1950's. It has gorgeous pearlescent buttons on t he shoulder, poofy sleeves, and cabling in the back. It's from an upscale department store (Lord and Taylor's), but of course, the Salvation Army had it for much cheaper. It's a baby, girlie pink color. I couldn't pass up the chance for angora yarn, though. I just don't know what I'll do with it. Maybe stick some in the wedding afghan, and then decorative fingerless gloves for the rest? I'm not sure, but it calls my name.

And finally, a pink variegated "fiber unknown" sweater/vest. Also brand unknown. But it had the coolest buttons and an awesome feel to it. I'm thinking it might be scrunchies and accessories for Davey's sisters for christmas.

That's all the update I've got. David's knitting is coming along well. He's finished his first simple ribbed wrist cuff (Super Saver and Wintuk yarns in grey and red, respectively, on size 4 straight needles, seamed with the red wintuk). He likes it, but it came out a bit too small, because I didn't account for his stitches being so tight! So he's going to try again with the cotton yarn I got thrifting yesterday and size 8's. It should work pretty well, I think. Now if only he would stop thefting my yarn. Cute, but annoying.

I'm off to either knit some more of the MSOG, or frog some more of the sweaters. I can't figure out which. I love knitting, and I love cheap yarn, but I HATE frogging old sweaters. I can never figure it out. Oh well.

I also have to clean, my older brother's girlfriend and her kid are coming over for a memorial day barbeque tomorrow. So of course, the house has to be spotless, under orders from my mother. That means all newly-gotten knitting supplies must be stowed away in my room. That's a lot of work. I don't even eat barbequed food....ugh.