And She Knits Too!

Nothing, nada, zip, rien

I've been working on the last panel of Sophie a bit every night, but there ain't much to see.  I'm working on a conference paper that is going very slow and taking up a lot of my brain capacity and it seems to be turning me into the absent minded professor.  At least I'm keeping the kids fed, clean, and happy and I'm remembering to pick them up at daycare.

So instead I thought I would show you a few things that have been catching my eye lately.  You know, in that time when you're surfing instead of working, or planning what to knit after you finish this super boring sweater in splitty cotton that you're not sure is going to fit you but had better since you've had the decency to keep it in your knitting basket for two years.  Those things.

Like Julia from RYC's Classic Summer book.  The colour is what first grabbed me, but I also love the design, dainty and very work-friendly (this from a woman who is dressed up at work if she's wearing a bra).  It's in Cashcotton 4 ply.  Yummy.

The same sweater Stephanie is loving from the very fabulous book by Fiona Ellis. 

I'm too lazy to scan in the pictures, but I love the morphing i-cord sweater,

the baby sweater and right now the one in Summer Tweed is calling me (because I have some liberated summer tweed burning a hole in my yarn closet right now and the design is lovely).

Birch.  Ya I know everyone did that last year, I still like it.  I have 3 balls of KSH in Marmalade and 3 in Candy Girl stashed and now that Spring is here and I'm wearing my Daisy Shawl around my neck every morning I a) fully understand the magic that is Crack-Silk Haze and b) the je ne c'est quoi of a light airy shawl wrapped around my neck being enough to keep the morning chill off whilst wearing a light blazer. 

Rockstar from Alchemy Yarns.  It's the diamond fantasy shawl with sleeves!  Since Synchronicity is a tad spendy for my tastes I'm looking for a substitution.  I would like the same 50% silk, 50% wool composition in a semi-solid/handdyed shade so this is looking nice (mmmm Fleece Artist).  Right now Acid Green is the colour that gets me for this sweater, but I'm not certain yet.

So I'm living a rich fantasy life, even if I'm not knitting.

Why I Love Gmail

Gmail always has little links at the top of the page and tonight I couldn't resist one called: french fry spam casserole.

I thought it was a joke site (because they often have little jokes or bon mots with the links).

Nope, it's a recipe: 

Frozen fries, corn flakes, cheddar cheese, sour cream, cream of chicken soup and spam. 

Mmm mmm good (grimace). 

That makes my cooking worthy of the food network...

Added later:

Seanna Lee tells me that you always get links to Spam recipes when you're in the g-mail Spam folder.  Now I love g-mail even more!  Outlook really has no sense of humour.

And what discussion of Spam would be complete without this?

Spring Cleaning

This project is so old, I'm surprised there isn't dust on it (like everything else around here). 

Today I put my foot down and vowed to finish this sweater.  I stashed it away with only the right front panel to complete and it's been bugging me all winter.  I *try* to keep to a 3-projects-plus-socks work basket but it doesn't always work (see my Now Playing gallery and you'll get the idea).  With warmer weather on the way, I'll need a cotton cardigan, and really I have about a week or two left to do on this sweater and it'll be out of the basket and on my back, so it's time to boss my knitting around.

Now let's hope I still like it and it fits...

Moments a knitter loves

This morning I got 2 inches cut off my hair and to celebrate my Spring 'do I made a stop at The Gap (where I buy 90% of my clothes) and looked for some spring work wear. 

The very good fitting room clerk did a fantastic job of bringing me things to try on (who knew I wore curvy-fit pants?).  At one point she was trying to sell me on a cotton/cashmere (15%) hoodie twinset in chocolate brown.  It was very nice, but I told her that I don't buy sweaters often because I knit.

She looks at me and says "But, you do not knit with cashmere."

I hand her my scarf and say "Sure I do, this is 100% cashmere..."

She touches it.  Stops.  Takes back the sweater and laughingly says, "When we're done here, you should give me your card."

I did not give her my card, but she did sell me a few fab outfits.  A few of which would look great with a little cashmere...

Added later for Jillian:

Now please don't think I'm some weird person who likes lots of photos of myself on the web.  But, I actually find having these "new hair" photos of myself helpful.  I really get a feel for what looks I like and don't from these pictures (and reminders of hair gone bad).  I'm sure it will give me something to laugh about in 20 years (or less).

Boffo Baby Bolero Bolsters Bad Day

I had a bad day.  I suffered a series of unfortunate events, none of which were particularly bad on their own, but which made me crack open a beer and stay away from sharp objects by the time 8pm rolled around. 

Even though it was tempting fate, I did bind off the final bit of the baby bolero and weave in the ends.  It is lovely.

It really was a one skein project--all I had left was a tiny ball of Blue Sky Cotton--a lovely soft yarn to that knits up really nicely. 

Of course, sweaters look better modeled:

Here's hoping the baby it's made for is not much bigger than this bear.  He was born 3 weeks ago and I need to get this into the mail NOW.   

There's also a nice little motif in the back, which is supposed to be a symbol of good luck. 

I am now off to paste this symbol all over my body in hopes of a better day tomorrow. 

Grrrr

Something is wrong with Typepad and the images in my latest posts don't show.  I'm trying to fix the problem, or get Typepad to explain the problem.  Grrrr.

The other knitting controversy

Most of you probably know about the whole legal kerfuffle over the trademarking of the term Stitch'n'Bitch (and if you don't go see all the good stuff Jenna has written about it).  However you might not know about the controversy in Madoc Ontario (population, a handful) as reported in The Community Press, Eastern Edition (February 3, 2006). 

Here's a few excerpts scanned from the newspaper, because some of you might think I was making this up:

Pretty funny eh? My father-in-law (who lives in a neighbouring town) knew I would get a kick out of this. And he was right.

The big question is: will SFSE go after the beleaguered Pastor for trademark infringement?

Why knitting for babies is fun

Swatches or sleeves?

Sleeves!  (Everyone say awwwwww!)

I'm hoping this is a good idea

I loved Kate's Sunrise Circle Jacket the moment I laid eyes on it.  It took me a while to settle on a yarn to use though.  I didn't like the colours of the Karabella Soft Tweed (except the orange, but I wasn't in an orange mood) and I didn't want to use my grey Jo Sharp Aran Tweed (this sweater doesn't say grey to me).  So I surfed around and didn't find anything I liked.  Then I remembered I had 7 skeins of Classic Elite '03 Tweed in the stash in Dried Cranberry.  Using stash yarn is always good, so I decided that was the yarn to use.

Except...

The pattern calls for 1080 yds and I have 1001.  I'm 79 yds short--just about a whole ball of the called-for yarn (half a ball of my yarn).

Now I rationalize...

The pattern has hemmed facings, and if I do those with another yarn, they won't show and I'll save the yardage.  And, I always use less yarn than the pattern calls for, so I should be fine.  And, if desperate, I can always unravel my swatch (I got the right gauge on the first try, so the yarn is telling me to use it). 

Let's hope this is some fine logical reasoning, and not a river in Egypt.

Now I'm on the hunt for a good yarn to use on the facings.  It might show on the back neck (see a picture here) so I'm going to need something that matches nicely.  Right now I have those stitches on a holder waiting to see what happens.  I'll do that will all the facings and if I have yarn left, I'll use it for the most public parts and work from there. 

Of course if any of you have one ball of discontinued, not found on google Classic Elite '03 Tweed in colour 5927, lot 1296 that you would like to sell or trade for something pretty, you'll let me know, right?

Where did the week go?

Thursday already?  How the hell did that happen?  It's been busy here now that I am back at work and everyone is (almost) well again.  There isn't much Break in March Break even if the kids are in daycare, though Stephanie would know more about the miseries than me.  Luckily my in-laws picked up the kids at 8:45 this morning and they'll be getting spoiled until Saturday.  It really mean more time for me to work, but Craig and I will get to do something together as well.

All this means there hasn't been much time for knitting.  I'm at the sleeve cap for Shona and I did do the heel on my Koigu sock though.  I love my koigu sock, and with Laura's help last knit at Lettuce Knit, I made a short row heel I'm happy with.  My short-rows just aren't consistent, so it was good to have a coach.  Now I just need to remember what I did when I get to the second sock.

I also engaged in some retail therapy.  I've had this urge to buy yarn all week, and I have the money, but I'm also quite satisfied with the state of my stash and my current slew of WIPs.  Meagan, the ever-clever proprietress, came to the rescue with a great new book called One Skein.  And, since I have a baby to knit for (born March 2) and two more babies-of-friends on the way, I'm happy to have this Baby Bolero to make.  It's probably easier than bootees, but more practical and substantial. 

This pumpkin Blue Sky cotton (the called for skein) will make a fetching boy bolero.  I'll probably jazz up the others by using my leftover Mission Falls cotton oddballs. 

And the Trekking yarn was just because I feel like I'm the only person who hasn't tried this stuff.  The socks (whenever I get to them) will be for Craig.  My sweetie wears the socks I knit him every week, so he certainly deserves another pair.