Nored No More

Block-a-palooza Block #9

Yay, block nine, Lemonade Stand, is done:

This was done with a slightly different type of no-waste-geese method, and I was pretty darn pleased with my geese. 

 

Here's what else I have to show: 

Have you heard of Quince and Co.? One day I was trolling around on Ravelry, and on an impulse I ended up with this:

So that I could make an Oatmeal Pullover... even though I'm still working on Aidez... and fifty other projects... Anyhow, here's what I liked about ordering some Puffin from them:

So classy! Check out their site - it's beautiful, and I'd definitely order more yarn from them.

What else? I needed thread, so I went to the quilt shop over the weekend. Ended up buying a bit more than what I went in for:

 

Top left: Alexander Hamilton's Larkspur, in the Indigo colorway:

Top right, Kitty Yoshida's Prospect Park in the Grey Pistachio colorway:

I l-o-o-o-v-e this stuff.

Bottom middle: Bella Solids - no idea the names:

But all my favorite colors. Something cool will come of them...

And also? I've been coveting these cathedral window pillows I keep seeing all over the internets. So after trolling around for a tutorial I could understand (and there's a TON out there - but this one made the most sense to me), I started on a few panes today. I didn't get too far - my dog seized, and I put away the sewing after that. But, here's what I did get done:

Yeah - not too far. Two folded up squares and the perfect insert fabric. Can't WAIT to try some more. 

And finally (because I know Sven in Norway is dying to know!): I finished reading Catching Fire so now I'm halfway through Mockingjay, and Bob's Burgers is my new favorite show. The characters are just so...wrong and bizarre. Makes me laugh out loud every episode. 

 

Block-a-palooza Block #3

Whoot whoot - this was nice (yay Orange!) and pretty easy. About an hour, max. Shoofly Geese:

Here's what they all look like together:

And also, I did a smidge of knitting over the weekend. And by "smidge," I mean I watched all of Season 1 of 30 Rock on Netflix (yay, PlayStation3) and got this far on Aidez:

Another storm is coming through, so I need to keep knitting so I can wear it ASAP.

The next block pattern comes out on Thursday, but I'm not sure I'll have time to get it done that night. Hopefully before then I can post some pictures of finished quilts. 

Who wants to see some Charlie??

This is stoic Charlie with his pouting cousin Murphy. Murphy isn't simply looking out the window in this picture. He's hiding his head, snout stuck in the corner. I took this picture in Florida, as my nephew and I were getting ready to go on our second hike of my trip there. The first hike we took Murphy only, and apparently he thought the honor was solely his for our second hike, too. He was not happy about Charlie trying to get in the car, and I think Charlie must have been embarrassed or something, because he just sat up so stiff and stared straight ahead--"My feelings are NOT hurt, and I'm READY for this."   Isn't he just the cutest??

A Little Knitting, A Little Life

So, as promised, a little knitting content:

A silk and linen clapotis. This is a gift for someone. The yarn is CAKE to work with, and actually that's a lot of progress up there that was made in a very short amount of time. I worked on it for about a week in mid-March, and haven't touched it since. Going in the travel bag for my trip to CO next month.

My friend Kelly had a little boy on April 30th. I started this last Thursday - the yoke and chest are done, and I'm starting the sleeve. Problem: went up a needle size because it was the only needle size I could find. As such, Jackson will be able to wear this garment when he's heading off to kindergarten.  Also, the stellar photographer didn't take more than one picture, and the light is off; that's actually a really pretty lime green that'll look great on the little bugger, who has some reddish looking hair (as Kelly calls it, "it's not hair so much as it's a total mullet: he's bald in the front and top, but totally sportin' long hair in the back!").

This is a LOT of stockinette, and eventually it'll be a Cobblestone Pullover for Chris. Here's Chris, by the way - we went to Charles Town, WV this past weekend to check out the local landscape. While we were there we hit the slots, and Chris won enough money to pay for the gas it took to get there as well as an all-you-can-eat-buffet dinner for the two of us. What was really funny was we both started out with really healthy plates. In fact, Chris' plate was all vegetables. But his last plate was the one that cracked me up - a piece of pizza, a cheeseburger, and some macaroni and cheese. Here he is, discussing the decline in his food choices:

In other blogworthy news, check out these beauties, which were $2.99 at the grocery store the other day (there are three there, but again, my stellar photography skills...the picture of all three came out really crappy):

And of course, adding interest to my life and preventing the "noredom,"  there is Charlie Boy. Brought him a new squeaky toy from Tar-jay (it's ruined already) that he immediately loved.

Yep - a giant peapod! Here he is, resting, post peapod playtime:

And, finally - I have to call my dog out. He's a GIANT baby. I ran the vacuum today, which always makes him tweak out. Then I busted out the fly swatter and killed a fly; here's where he went, with his baby-toy to save him....

Yeah. Good thing I didn't need him to be a guard dog!

Happy Memorial Day Weekend everyone - be safe!

Perfect Timing

So with the shorter hair and the colder weather, I'm back to wearing winter hats - the long hair just didn't go with hats at all and it always managed look stringy and crappy under a hat. But here's the good news - the hair looks good in hats again, and just to prove it, today we got this:

so I got to wear this:

THAT is my Qiuviut cap knit from the kit I bought while in Alaska this past summer. It's been hectic with work and school stuff around here, but I did manage to get this on and off the needles in a night, and I've also made progress on some Christmas knitting, another Clapotis, and another hat for a friend. Busy, busy, busy!

654 Yards

Ever wonder if there's a twelve-step program for yarn addicts? And if there is, what do you think "hitting bottom" would look like?

I was cleaning out a closet yesterday, and I came across a package from WEBS - one I hadn't opened  yet - and discovered this inside:

Having no idea what I'd bought it for, I checked the receipt - dated APRIL 30, 2007 (thank GOD it was 2007, right?) - and then checked the blog. No mention of why I bought it, just that I bought it and didn't know what I was going to do with it.

So, if you have any idea of what I can make with 654 yards of silk, cotton, and nylon ( 5 1/2 sts = 1"), please - let me know. And, if you're interested in being a Sponsor for my yarn-buying addiction, let me know about that, too! (TEE-HEE!)

In other news, Anne and Jasmeen and I went to Reston SnB at 7 tonight, but couldn't find anyone. Either they were hiding, or we were being taught a lesson about using Meet-Up to let peeps know we'd be there. Oh, well. Maybe next time. Instead we had Knitting Night at my place - Anne's making serious progress on Hearten (and suddenly I have a serious urge to buy a lot of Rowan Calmer) and even Jasmeen was making progress on Tempting. Woo-hoo, us!

Sleeves on

Tangled Yoke is moving right along - figures, too, because it's freezing cold and windy here right now but by the time this thing is finished NOVA will undoubtedly be in one of its mid-winter warm spells and/or I'll be in FL celebrating the holidays with the family in 80 degree heat. (Last year my friend got me a sweatshirt I really, really wanted and had it sent to FL - there I was, sweating away, wearing my new sweatshirt!)

ANYhow, as I said, the sleeves are on and after another half inch of stockinette, I'll begin the cabling - woohoo:

Off to get some school work done...so...close...can...see the....light....

Speedy

Recipe for a speedy night of knitting.

Start with some Rowan's Kid Classic:

Pick a color, and knit this shape:

(make two)

Then, use the other color to make some trim:

(again, do this twice)

Finally, seam up the edges, leaving the trimmed part open:

How totally cute are these things?? These are newborn-sized contrast-edged slippers from 50 Baby Bootees to Knit. The oh-so-sweet HR gal is due at Christmas, and I thought these would be the perfect little gifty for her. Started these during How I Met Your Mother, and VOILA - I'm done!

Progress

Productive weekend - the house is clean, I got out and socialized on Saturday (friend of a friend's Halloween party - I was a bridesmaid...tres original, I know but Lordy I have enough dresses to be a 'different' bridesmaid every year!), and I watched half of Season 1 of Weeds while I finished a sleeve for the Tangled Yoke:

As the sleeves are knit in the round, I had really wanted to do both at the same time. I got impatient trying to figure out how to do that - I can visualize it, and I understand how it works, but I couldn't cast on right and so I just ran with the one sleeve at time tried-and-true method. Plus, what better way to prove your garment is homemade than by pointing out that your sleeves are two different lengths?? On my list is to find an article that explains how the cast-on works for knitting two [sleeves, socks, whatever] at a time.

Happy Monday!

Tangled Yoke

So Friday after work I went and picked up a crap load of yarn:

Nine more skeins of Red Hot Lamb N Cash from Simply Shetland, for a grand total of 1360 yards.

I ripped out the gauge swatch, and cast on for the actual sweater. I've finished the garter ribbing around the bottom, and now I have some stockinette to do for a while, so it could get slower. But the yarn is great, and I'm really siked to wear the finished product. It's gonna be 80 degrees here tomorrow, so I think I have some time before it needs to be done.

Invasionof the Gauge Alien

Y'all - I must confess, I don't ever knit a gauge swatch. I have an uncanny knack for getting the exact stitches per inch that a pattern or yarn calls for, so I've chosen (knowing full well to what kind of perils this could lead) to pass on swatching for just about every single project I've ever started. I will say that usually I get about two inches in to a pattern and then check gauge - the thought being that if I'm on, that's two inches down and if I'm off, well it's only two inches.

As readers (heheh) may know, I really want to make the Tangled Yoke Cardigan - but I was a tad put off by the fact that I need seven balls of the Rowan Felted Tweed to make it, coming out to (if I'm really lucky) $65 for the yarn. Usually I try to substitute something more affordable, but this time I decided, "you know, I really like this one, and I really want it to be perfect - it's worth it to me."

So off to the new yarn store tonight, shopping list in hand: seven (maybe eight, to be safe) balls of Rowan Felted Tweed and some 40" Addi Turbo circs in size 5. Well, alas, no Rowan in the store. Cute store, nice owners - but no Rowan and no Addis. Think of the Jimmy Buffet song - "no shoes, no shirt..." - no problem.  What I found instead was some holy-crap GORGEOUS lambwool/cashmere blend in a burgundy color. Yeah, two bucks a skein more than the Rowan, and 60 yards less of yarn - i.e., I'd need ten skeins instead of 7 (maybe 8) for the project. No, no, no.

Well...

NO!

Well...

(You see where this is going, right?)

After a moment of seriously deep meta-self-compromise, I went with this logic - "Let's just buy one skein, take it home, knit it for a bit, and see what happens. The worst that will happen is I'll love it and have to come back - the best is that it'll be nice but stitch definition will suck and gauge will be off - another one-skein for the stash."

Y'all? I cast on ONE HUNDRED stitches and then knit TWENTY ROWS to check out gauge and stitch definition - I did the garter rib for a while, I did the faux side seam stitch that the pattern calls for, I did some cabling, I did some bobbles. Bobbles, people - BOBBLES. Yeah, a gauge alien seriously took over my body tonight.

How do you think this story ends? Will a photo help?

The photo isn't doing this justice (news flash - my photography skills suck!). Gauge? DEAD ON. Stitch definition? GORGEOUS. Feel of fabric?  AWESOME.

Who's the sucker that's going to go back to buy more of this stuff from the LYS for $1.50 more per skein than I can find it online? In the infamous words of Elle Woods, "MEEEEEEEE!"