Turkey Day

Happy turkey day everyone!

I spent thanskgiving, as stated, with my in laws. While nice, some of them can just be far too intolerant. But this isn't the proper place to be ranting about being a bisexual, bipolar, goth and pagan in a small town. Nah. Me? Out of place? Never. hehe.

I got about ten percent more of my scarf completed. It's going to be a long scarf. My grandmother is 4'10" so I'm going to be making the scarf about 5" long. She's going to love it, I think.

I spent some more time on ravelry today researching patterns for other people's christmas presents. I got asked a bunch of times about when baby Katelyn's blanket is going to be done. So I need to finish that, soon, too.

Oh well.

For the love of ducks....

....please rescue me from my inlaws. Even my scarf-knitting cannot drown out the sounds of their intolerance.

Inventory Time

So It's time to take inventory of all that I need to do before the holidays -

Knit a hat for my older brother (probably a bucket hat, like the one from VK 25th anniversary) - no yarn picked out yet.
Knit Knucks for my younger brother (knitty.com) - no yarn picked out yet.
Knit a scarf for my dad (Still haven't found a pattern I like. The Irish Hiking Scarf maybe?)- Caron Simply Soft
Knit a pair of socks for my mom (Citrine Socks from IK Holiday 2007) - Unraveled cashmere thrift store sweater
Knit a pair of socks for Molly (IK's Tyrolean Socks) - Caron Simply Soft Brites
Knit a purse for Amanda (no pattern yet...maybe Zeeby's Bag from the first stitch and bitch!) - No yarn picked out yet
Knit cell phone cozies for my two sisters in law. - no yarn picked out yet
Knit my father in law socks (He's a size men's 15 triple E. Yikes) - no yarn picked out yet
Knit my mother in law something (I dunno what yet. Scarf? Hat? More likley a coffee cozie) - no yarn picked out yet. But scraps should make it easy to do the coffee cup cozie.

I still have to finish my grandmother's Webs scarf. That's going to be easy to do. It's in Caron Simply Soft Light Country Blue, and it matches her coat exactly. I'm going over to my inlaw's tonight to stay for thanksgiving, and I'll be bringing it with me. I botched the lace pattern, and am eliminating the acre pattern for favor of garter stitch.

I finished my other grandma's scarf a while ago. Moss stitch in a nice virgin wool. dyed peacock like colors. Yummy.

I'm justifying my knitting myself a pair of citrine socks as testing the pattern for my mother's socks.

I'm also not sure what to get the hubby for christmas. Yeah. That should be interesting. I don't even know what he wants.

As far as other knitting related news, Ravelry is a time sucker. A yummy, yummy time sucker that grabs me in every time. I've been surfing knitting blogs all afternoon, in hopes that someone might return the favor and read mine. I don't usually have photos, my digital camera has a cracked lense, but I do make posts, and I'm hoping to make posts more often.

As far as projects that have been put on the back burner for holiday knitting, I have:
My wedding afghan - it's still not finished. I doubt it will be finished by my husband and my one year anniversary. I don't have the effort or money. It's single crochet, but so, so comfy.

My granny square afghan - just put on the back burner for a bit.

Scrubbies - we need new washcloths, but I don't want to knit them just yet. I've got a whole truckload of black cotton yarn to use, too.

Norbert - the dragon scale's shawl from THe YarnPath. in a lovely acrylic/mohair blend.

My steampunk gloves - fingerless. Acrylic. SImple.

My vest.

My aran isles afghan

My other Simple Sock

My other fingerless glove for hubby


And more, I'm sure I'm forgetting some. I know i am, in fact. But that's enough torment. I have too many projects.

Zombies.

Well, not really. There are no zombies around. But I feel like a zombie. Really I do. I had a job interview today. I had called about it yesterday, there was an ad in the paper asking for childcare for a four year old. So I called, and had an interview tonight.

Little did I realize that it's clear across town, and the bus stop is about 1.5 miles from their home. 1.5 miles TOTALLY uphill. ANd it's not a wussy hill. I may live in Ohio, but it's unglaciated Ohio. That means BIG HILLS. I was running a little late because I had to keep stopping on the way to their house. They seemed kinda pissed, but I can at least say I gave it my best shot.

The kiddo is four years old and absolutely adorable. I really hope I get the job. THat would mean about an extra 400 a month. And I'd get to keep my insurance. So yeah.
\
On the knitting front, I didn't get much done today. I'm planning on working on my grandma's Quiviuk Webs Scarf, that isn't really Quivit but Caron Simply Soft. I need to finish my other citrine sock, and work on a ton of christmas presents.

On the Webs scarf, I fudged most of the lace, and eliminated the acre pattern in favor of simple garter stitch.

The citrine socks are two color stripes now.

Gifting Time!

I've been working frantically to get christmas gifts done. But I keep getting sidetracked. I finished a moss stitch scarf for my grandma Audrey, am working on the Quiviuk Webs Scarf from Interweave for my Grandma Nancy. I did a prototype sock for my mother of the Citrine Socklets, and have the yarn for my friend Molly's Tyrolean Socks. That's about as far as I've gotten on progress. That's sad.

Back to knitting, I suppose!

Long time no talk

So it's been a long, long time since I've posted. Things have been hectic. I've moved out of Glouster and out of the house with david's parents. We moved into our own little shack in Athens, OH.
Since then, our friend Brett has moved in, since he's having wife problems. His little girl, Savannah, is the one who got the skull sweater knit for her. You should all remember that project. Whoo.
On the subject of the cats, only Pi came with us. Pi is the cat formerly known as Quita. We found out he was a boy. The other two cats are being placed up for adoption since my sisters in law cannot care for them.


On the knitting front, I've got some things going on that are new.

Brett's requested a hat with earflaps. That's being done in black Lion brand homespun.

I've got a granny square blanket to work on all my acrylic stash.

Other misc. projects that are still going on, but nothing real to speak of. Yeah.

Mr. So-So

With two kittens running around, plus a fully grown cat, its hard to get any work done. The two kittens are attacking the needles (one to each needle) then the yarn when the figure out that IT moves too! The fully grown cat doesn't bother much with any of it, except for hissing at the kittens. She lunged at Quita the other day, which was greatly upsetting. I yelled at her for it and she's hardly been inside since. She'll get over it, I hope.

I finished up a modified "Baby's First Tattoo" from Stitch and Bitch Nation. It's now a sleeveless sweater vest. Bright neon pink with black accent work. The collar came out a little wonky. But otherwise it's okay. I fair-isle'd the skull motif instead of duplicate stitch. I hate duplicate stitch. I hate it a lot! So its a fair isle skull, and only on the right side of the outfit. I think it came out pretty darn cute, and I think Brett and Trista will think so, too. At least I hope they do. I just hope it isn't so cute that Trista breaks her water over it (although that's close to the ultimate compliment!) It definately suits their style. Maybe I'll even get a picture of the tyke wearing it, when the time comes.

I'm still working on the darn Wedding Afghan. My other yarn should be in the mail soon, along with a harness for Quita. Her collar is still holding up well, by the way. It's just a simple I-Cord square knotted around her neck. She could easily slip it if she needed to, or even bite through it, but she hasn't.

Sock yarn is coming in from KnitPicks. Their "Palette" line, I believe. Greens, blues, and blacks mostly. I have a lack of reds and oranges, but that's no bother to me.

I've got to do a pair of lace up armwarmers for David, still. Black with red trim. Like the purple ones I did for myself. I'm sure I'll post pictures eventually. I'll save up until I find our camera and do one giant "Finished Object" picture post. How's that for killing bandwith?

I still need to do damn near everyone's christmas gifts. I got a whole slew of vintage patterns in the mail the other day, so I'm sure I'll have no lack of ideas as to what to make people for christmas now. Most of the patterns are from the 80's though, and while some are salvageable, others are just completely hopeless.

That's one of the things I love about this art/craft - you can modify anything you don't enjoy.

I'm off....I'm going to babysit my cousin-in-law Katelyn - She's a cutie, and maybe she'll be a future yarn junkie!

Take care!

Kitties Kitties Everywhere And Not a Drop to Drink

I haven't posted in a while for a few reasons - Travel and cats. What do these things have to do with one another? Absolutely nothing.

We're back in Ohio now. All is well. We're moving back to Philadelphia sometime in early fall/late summer. That decision is settled and I have to start making plans.

We got a kitten! Her name is Muenaquita, meaning "Babydoll", but we call her Quita (which is, oddly enough, French/Old Latin for "Tranquil"...she's anything but!) Our little girl is a tiger trapped in a housecat's body. She's all black, but when she grows it's plainly visible she'll have dark greyish brown tiger stripeys. She sleeps in bed with us, knows where her litter box is, and spends all day playing with my sisters-in-laws new kittens, God and Sammy So-So, who are her siblings.

There's a picture of the happy family, as well as one of just my hunny and Quita.

In knitting news, not much has been going on. I've started a few projects - the nifty headphone cord covers I saw on Craftster (for both my and David's headphones), The "Baby's first tattoo" from Stitch and Bitch Nation for my friends Brett and Trista's upcoming child in Sugar N Creme Cotton and Caron Simply Soft, The halter top from Stitch and Bitch Nation for me, in Plymouth Encore in a color I can't seem to find again so I may need to find something else. Also, the wedding afghan is coming along....slowly but surely. I completed a few Catwarming sets too.

More photos when I can!

Anicardacae

So I haven't exactly stuck to my schedule. I didn't pick up the Minty Shawl at all this week. Well, I picked it up to move it. But not to work on it. I found something that needed my attention much more though - A straight needle holder. I needed something to take it on the bus in. All that metal in one place might have been a threat...now it's just a nicely organized threat.

Even if I don't follow schedules, I make them. It's nice and it keeps me sane to know that even the biggest things can be broken down into manageable pieces.

I did start the armwarmers, though. Not in the Plymouth Encore I thought I had though. So I ran out and got some purple Lion Brand Wool Ease in an appropriately SHOCKING PURPLE color. I like them so far. They just dont' stay up worth a damn. I always have that problem with armwarmers though. They need a good ribbing. Or a good ribbon to lace them with.

I've got one and a half armwarmers finished right now.

But without further ado, and there isn't any ado....my NEEDLE HOLDER! TOXICODENDRON!

Pictures:

The Back

And the front.

What the Heck Is It and How do I use it?

It's a straight needle holder - It's got pockets for additional support on the bottom, but the needles are mostly intended to be slid through a slice of the knitted fabric - much like using a safety pin. The pockets support the base of the needles (sometimes unsuccessfully).

This project is NOT felted or fulled.

The Bare Basics:

Needles: US Size 6, fourteen inch straight needles. Susan Bates.

Hook: US Size E. Boye Balene II.

Yarns: Lion Brand Wool-Ease and a mystery yarn from the thrift store. Wool-Ease Worsted being 80% acrylic and 20% wool content.

As usual, I have the pattern available should anyone want to make this. I can post it here, if there are requests, or send it individually. Just ask if you'd like it.

The Short Story Long:

Born out of boredom, a need to store my wildly out of hand needle collection, and a hatred for my dendrology class, this needle holder is quite possibly the happiest creation of my life.Named and inspired by one of the world's least favorite plants, Poison Ivy, it has no ill effects. I swear. I've tried it myself. It's a pattern of my own devising, worked mostly out of a simple half-twisted stockinette base (I tend to only twist my knit stitches - I can never commit to anything wholeheartedly!) that's about 15.5 inches wide.The decorative bands are interspersed about every three inches, give or take. The stitch is a modified version of what I saw deemed a "Pillar Stitch". It's supposed to make very firm fabric, which is what I wanted, but I realized it just had too many holes for needles to slip through. It's about 14.5 inches high - barely large enough to hold my 14 inch long straights. If I were to make another one or revise my pattern notes, I'd compensate for that and work in an extra inch or so.There is a garter stitch border on three sides - the top and both longer sides. It was knit from one skein (exactly, no extra left) of grey Lion Brand Wool-Ease Worsted. The green yarn which forms the pocket fabric and detail stitching, as well as the binding on the edges, is a mystery yarn that was gotten thrifting. It was in a bag marked 100% Unknown Fiber, but feels like a very soft animal fiber. I'm inclined to say it's an angora or cashmere, with possibly an acrylic mix. The yarn isn't as shown in the pictures - the grey is a much more "bright" grey, being more white based than black based. The green is a darker green with hints of muted rainbow colors that shine only in light - the yarn reminds me of fish scales. As I alluded to - there is a single crochet border (I can't seem to get past it in my designs, I just love it so darn much...) as well as detail stitching. The detail stitching, seen mostly only on the front of the case, is what forms the pockets on the backside. I modeled (or tried to) this piece after Toxicodendron radicans, or, Poison Ivy in vine form. The big fuzzy grayish vines that grow on trees (Not to be confused with Parthenocissus quinquefolia - do you know how long it took me to learn to spell that? Virginia Creeper) is what I worked with for this project. I'm not sure if I succeeded in capturing the look or feel of the plant - you be the judge. I just know I like (mostly) how it looks.

Summer Days Can Lead To the Bad Times...

A couple people who read this (who DOES read this thing anyway? Can I get a headcount?) have figured out that almost all of my post titles come from song lyrics. You're right in that assumption.

But the lyrics do kind of accurately describe what's going on. I'm not sure if its because I've been a shitty friend all of my life, or because I just happen to have a collection of non connected memories of people who have since left my life, but these memories keep popping up. Especially in the summer. Maybe it's because I have nothing to do, or maybe its because I have more than enough to do but my mind farts out on me. But I keep thinking of people who have no reason to still be in my head.

I kind of want the memories gone, but then my life would be all "eternal sunshine of the spotless mind" and it would get kind of weird. oh well. And then there are the memories that aren't really memories, they're just dreamt memories...memories that pop up in my dreams that, later in the day or the week I can't remember if I dreamt them or if they actually occured. My mind is tricky. It takes details and synthesizes them and makes things so real I don't know what the hell is going on half the time. The human brain is weird.

Maybe I should go back on my meds. A bipolar girl with two sharp sticks isn't good for anyone. Oh well. When we get back to Ohio, I'll see someone. I swear.

As I've been in a weird, semi-horrible mood lately, I've gone into "Super Boyscout Mood". The mood that screams "BE PREPARED! FOR EVERY POSSIBLE EVEN MINOR OCCURANCE!" So...I'm currently knitting for the place (and I say place because I don't know what it will be - house, apartment, rented room) that David and I will be moving to at the end of the summer (please cross your fingers....I need to get out!). Today has been spent using up some lovely balls of cotton yarn. I'm making washcloths.

Lots of washcloths. A bright green washcloth with a frog on it. David's nickname is Froggy, so I thought he'd like it. He says he'd feel too weird "scrubbing his asscrack" (his words, not mine) with it. So he'll use it as a face cloth I guess.


There's A bright blue one with a bat on it, and a brown one with a skull and crossbones. There's a brown seed stitch washcloth with a crocheted bright blue edging (I love the colors. And damnit, if you've read this blog, you'll know my love of seed stitch).

I've got to use up the rest of the blue, the rest of the green, and a bunch of balls of black. The blue and green will probably only make one more washcloth each, and have some yarn leftover (the brown had some leftover). So I've got to incorporate the useless ends somehow. I'll probably make a bunch of black washcloths with different colored edgings. Unless I can find a cool stripe pattern to use.

I need to make more blankets. We're going to need blankets when we move in. You can never have too many blankets - my family is proof of that. We have a bazillion (yes, that's a valid scientific numerical quantity - stop questioning me!) blankets at my parents house, and we still seem to not have enough somehow.

Then there's the adorable felted wool potholders/hot pads I need to make.

And of course, I've got the mind to make an awesome red acrylic (Caron 1 pounder, baby!) skull lace tablecloth. But I don't know if we'll have a table or how big it will be. So I'll hold off on that. And matching placemats.

More washcloths. And towels, I think. But towels are kind of impractical to knit.

A welcome mat proclaiming "FUCK OFF" would be just subtle enough, I think. I may do it.

I've always wanted a canopy bed....so I'll be knitting the canopy part of that as well...when we find out what kind of bed we'll have. A giant canopy like the one in the summer Interweave Knits. Yeah, that'd be kickass.

Socks. We need socks. We'll need lots of socks. Don't ask me why - we aren't going to be trapped out in the woods with only our socks to keep us warm, but with the amount i want to make, you just might think so!

Then I'd still like to make a whole slew of baby items...not just for that potential future event (that sometimes makes me want to scream and yell and pull at my hair), but because our friends keep procreating.

I've got to make the blanket for David's mother (a thank you gift for letting us stay at the house so long), the Minty Shawl of Goodness for Aunt Lois, the Her's and Her's set for Molly and Amanda, the Wedding Afghan (it's long overdue to be finished). I've also got to frog the sweaters I bought, and make some socks for mom's birthday (august) out of the cashmere/silk salmon colored sweater.

I've got more than enough projects to finish, and I'm sitting here knitting WASHCLOTHS? What's wrong with me? This seems to be a common problem, from what i can gather. It's called "startitis". I may just be suffering from it.

And my nifty armwarmers.

Maybe I should set goals:

This week I will: Finish some Projects.

Monday - has passed. I knit washcloths. I will continue knitting washcloths tonight.

Tuesday - I will pick up the minty Shawl of Goodness. I aim to have it finished soon, if not this week.

Wednesday - Get smaller items done
Thursday - I'll work on the Her's And Her's set. I aim to have all the washcloths done on this day. I will have estimated yardage needed for the towels. I will look up techniques needed for the towels and plan them, and perhaps finish the towels while in Ohio.

Friday - Armwarmers. They will be done within the day. If they are completed, I will start on my socks.

Saturday - Minty Shawl. I will also pack for the trip back to Ohio and sort out what needs to be shipped to me.

Sunday - We leave at night back for Ohio. So I'll figure something to bring on the bus. Much knitting will be done on the bus - so the Minty Shawl might be great. On the other hand, those seats don't have lots of room...so perhaps I'll start my Mother-In-Law Afghan.

If I cannot do what is planned on these days, washcloth knitting is an acceptable substitute. But I WILL be doing what is planned. Because I need to.


Yeah, setting goals has always worked. Procrastinator's of the World Unite!.........Tomorrow.