Ring a bell?

If this speaks to you, you know you're a knitter.



One mate-less sock finished on the 24th.

Doesn't mean I can't have fun with it though! Hope everyone is well, and has a happy and safe year-end wrap up.





ooh, and in response to Diana (I'm sorry I didn't post sooner!) the error in the POTW stole is that as written, Chart B for the edging contains an error. The second-to-last stitch of rows 9, 11, 13 and 15 should be marked as a k2tog.

*sigh*

Just ripped the semi-secret project, and need to go and rip the super-secret project.

I try to avoid complaining, but dude? This week kind of sucks.


Ooh, also, thank you everyone for the wonderful comments on the shawl. My grandmother loves it.

FO: Print O The Wave

I cast off the stole yesterday and pulled it off the blocking mattress today.
Pattern: Eunny Jang's Print O The Wave
Needles: 120cm addi lace, 4.5mm
Yarn: just over 2 skeins (like... JUST) of handmaiden Mini Maiden
Start: mid-november, 2007
Size: 48x64"
End: December 11, 2007
Mods: Knit the body in one piece, didn't graft in the middle. Also the yarn weight, much heavier than called for.
Love it, really really love it. The yarn was a dream (even if the colour is elusive), the pattern was pretty well written, bar one error. I feel good about this knit.

Sorry, but the other project I have going is semi-secret!

The Sigh of Relief Heard 'Round the World

The Yarn Gods have smiled upon me! There was not only one more skein left at the shop, but three! (in their stash in the back)

Granted the price of the shawl just increased by 50%, when I'm going to use ~20 grams of the third skein. But it is worth it.

I may have proclaimed my undying love to the young lady on staff, oops.

Oh, and this means that for anyone who loved the colourway, there are at least 2 more in existence.

I'm going to go study now. No more posts until my next exam and shawl are done.

nail biting

Nearly halfway through the border! I am crossing my fingers that my remaining yarn holds out, but deep down... I fear that i may have committed the cardinal sin of not buying enough yarn (and there is no more available, as far as I know).

Less than a week to go!

Hello peoples!
First to address some questions form my last post:
Carly, I am indeed on Ravelry. Under the name 'michael'
And Heather, the shop I got the yarn from doesn't label the colourways (and they don't do it at the FA HQ as I understand it) and as always, I cannot find anything on their site even resembling it, I am sorry!

Now, knitting. I have finished off 25 of the called-for 34 repeats, and I think I will probably go until the full 34, I think I should still have enough yarn left for the edging then. It's getting close! (on a good day I get about 5 repeats in)

And you all know how unblocked lace gets me going, so have some photos for now. (also, I love how much it looks like cables at this point. And I am still waiting on a photo that really shows the true greens in this yarn.)

Swiss Watch? No...

Swatch! This is for Eunny Jang's Print O' The Wave Stole, in Hand Maiden Mini Maiden. The colour is pretty darn poor (I swear, it has a different personality for every slight change in lighting).





Umm, more talk later. Last push in the final two weeks of class this term.

Doo-doo-Doo!

Ok. News. I grabbed the 'Filigree Shawl' from Alpaca with a Twist, and enough skacel Merino Lace to knit it. I am not sold on the yarn, it's too... flat (the yarn is a beautiful sage green, but it is completely solid, and I need some variety, baby!) So I am going to explore the other yarn store tomorrow in hopes of finding something more to my liking, or, if not, I might try to overdye the yarn just to add some depth, nothing crazy. (also, I might alter the pattern a bit, add something to the main squares, because you know, it's not hard enough as is or anything). And I need to get the yarn for tomorrow, because the day after I am hoping to head on a mini road trip up-island (just overnight) to unwind for two days, no computer, just my knitting, good local food, and maybe a travelling companion.

Also, Tomten photos! I will sya now that I am not super keen on these photos, but they will do the job (and I will attempt to get more, we are just out of sun lately). Er, I will do a complete FO write up tomorrow hopefully (cross your fingers for at least oooooone good photo)

Hrmph

Geez, by the sounds of things, you might think I haven't been knitting at all!
In fact I am done everything on the Tomten except for zipper bands (for which I need the zipper, you'll see why), and seaming the second sleeve (which I intend to do tomorrow). Since it is so so so close, I want to hold off and give y'all a real FO.
Just so this space stays semi-active, have a little wintery picture (hope you don't mind, Miss Kaity)



Oh, and I have been doodling variations of these little guys for a while now, but I can't shake the feeling that they are not mine! If you have seen anything like them on any other artists blog, ever, do let me know, I can't find where I would have got them, but I would love to give due credit if I stole them.

Used

I have this thing about used bookstores. I just cannot stay away. Some used bookstores hold more interest for me than others, and while I have nothing against 'The Classics', seeing shelves full of nothing other really doesn't do it for me.

A good way to win me over is interesting cooking books. (I have a... compulsion when it comes to buying cooking books, I think it's glandular or something). So you can imagine my excitement when I founda book which claims to "[explain] things you need to know, and things to watch out for. There are plenty of things left for you to discover, learn, stumble upon." In my subsequent internet forays, I found that I did not stumble across some super-valuable holy tome of cookery, or some hitherto undiscovered work of genius. No, I found a very well known instant classic, apparently. But I do seem to have found a less common edition, because it has different cover art. And Oh! The art in this book! It is adorable, there are illustrations on almost every page (in a style reminiscent of my mother's, actually), and I would have nabbed this sucker for nothing else other than the pictures. It also looks to be a solid vegetarian guidebook (I am notorious for being poor at inventing good vegetarian dishes. They are usually... green, and kind of soggy.)





















Also, a book for sneaky organic cooks? I am so there! I am no nutritionist, but it seems to have at least a goodly amount of simple, sane, helpful health advice (it is about half chatter, and half recipes). It also has a chapter about reinvigorating one's... personal life through change in diet, not partners. The writer (Jane Kinderlehrer) seems to be pleasantly witty, and I am *so* sold on the idea of a culinary guerilla now.

Now, if there was one more thing I needed to cement this bookstore in my list of favourite time-sinks downtown, it would be books about knitting. While I didn't find any of those, I did find 'an introduction to natural dyeing'. I am not a dyer myself, but I know that there are people out there who are very much into natural dyeing, and this 37 page pamphlet from 1972 Santa Rosa, California looks like quite the little treasure. Oh, and if the colour plate doesn't lie, I wonder why people don't do this more, I am very taken by some of the colours shown.
















And lastly, it's sock weather!

Not Knitting

I haven't knit in a while, really. But since I feel a tad guilty being so quiet here, I think I should share *some*thing. All I have are doodles though, sorry!

The first three are shamelessly inspired by some of Lisa's (http://www.monkeybrains.net/~dietrich/musings/) work. And the last is just a little fellow feeling the seasons change out here.

Tree!

-Am working on first sleeve of The Tomten
-Sock yarn is wound
-School has shifted from Open, I mean, Midterm Season to apparently mass freak-out time. Less than a month until reading break, we can do this! (despite the papers and exams before then, but shhhhhh). My point is, it's quiet around here. There is a lot of sleeping. And napping. Much more than there should be, I imagine.
-Has anyone seen my creativity lately? I have been perusing Lisa's old 'drawing a day' set on flickr (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lisasolomon/sets/803513/). I am always [always!] hugely motivated and inspired by her work, and it usually gets me feeling like I could start putting some ideas together if I had the time.
-Have a tree?

A Knew Knitting Chapter?

The Tomten is now zipping along. I've finished one front and about half the back, and if I kepe putting off work tonight, I just might be bale to join for the hood this evening! (I'll grab some photos once it's more than a big hunk of garter stitch)

And is this not just beauteous? (and that spelling looks horrid, hmm)
It is Araucania Ranco Multy (colourway PT502, mrrrowr). At 344 metres, this just might become a pair of socks for *me*! I'm thinking toe-up (I hate to waste), with a reverse heel flap (always need to try out something new), and I might make up some simple patterning for the leg/instep.





I really do need to get a hold of a swift and ball-winder, because if this knits up as nice as it feels (75% wool, 25% polyamide) there might be more in my future.

Doodles

There are days where I just do not feel creative in the least. (This is one of those days) On those days, I usually end up filling a page with these funny little doodles. They originally started as greenmen (I can't find any of my old ones), but have since morphed into these squiggly, curlicue-heavy faces. They are all unique, and they all cheer me up a bit.





I have probably drawn a few hundred of these in the last few months, in all sizes and personalities.
I am thinking about mayhaps putting together some card packages (they are my standard gift accompaniments). At this point I am just a little bit curious if anyone would be interested in something like that.
Hopefully more news on that in the future.

I think I need to rip the Tomten. Serves me right for starting to knit before actually getting size measurements of the kid it's for. (speaking of which, what is a reasonable amount of ease for a toddler's jacket?)

The last thing I have tonight is a sketch of a discussion I had with a friend a little while ago.



(It was like there was an elephant in the room, smoking a cigarette and blowing smoke all about. He was wearing a purple leaisure suit, trackerd mud all over, and was humming a song that no-one else knew.)

(and yes, heavily inspired/partly copied from Gerard Hoffnung's 'Hoffnung in Harmony' which I love so much.)

Happy evening peoples!

Sniffle

It is cold and wet and nasty outside.
It is mucusy and sore in here.
It is also midterm week.

I am glad that I'm knitting garter stitch right now. (It's taking it's time, but should pick up once I get some academia out of the way)

Housekeeping

It is time for some housekeeping on this blog. I am going to playing around with some settings and layout, updating my blogroll and such over the next day or two, and hopefully I will be much happier with it when it is al done. I'm thinking about plunking in a haloscan commenting system, because blogger is starting to get on my nerves (I'm considering heading over to wordpress or typepad even, but it's not that bad yet). See you in a day or three!

Knitting Knews!

I have interesting things to talk about today! And photos!

Point the first: I finished knitting my Exchequeredesque scarf.


(sorry about the photo, I really need an assistant)

Time: About a month
Yarn: 4 skeins of Lana Grossa Cool Wool 2000. 2 in colour 514 (red) and 2 in 518 (yellow). I used almost every last inch. I had maybe 90 cm left over altogether.
Size: ~6' x 4.5"
Verdict: I kind of really love it. It is the perfect size for me. Double knitting really is not that hard! But it might have convinced me to learn to knit continental, as my arm is a little bit worn-out after six feet of 1x1 ribbing.

I tried to show the pattern shift that I charted in the photos, hope you can see it! (This scarf is so very warm and cozy, as I said before, I kind of really love it)






Ok. Other knitting!
Since I cast off my scarf, I had no other knits going on, and since I felt like a break from the knit-purl sequence, my thoughts drifted to something decidedly Zimmermann... And you see, a good friend of mine has a neice aged 2 and a half years, and the Tomten jacket is only a little bit adorable so I found myself hunting for pink yarn (apparently the child likes pink, I am not propagating the colour-bias of my own volition). For now I'll just leave it at a few photos, since it is just a few rows of Garter stitch, and will be so for a bit.



(speaking of cute, matching needles!

Oh, what the heck, let's have one more!


Take care peoples!

I. Love. Yogourt.

Thank you, and goodnight.

(oh, and don't overexcite yourselves, there isn't more to come. I just really really enjoy the versatility of yogourt. And I am aware of my unique spelling. There are some words that I just have to spell how they sound in my head.)

Ow.

So much for procrastination knitting gossip!
I don't know what it is about this year, but I have been working my tail off for classes since last Wednesday! I am mostly in first year courses again this term (pesky prerequisites), so it shouldn't be the level of work. I have no idea, but it is wearing me out already! This is just too weird for me...

Up until Wednesday I was dilligently bringing my knitting to campus with me and sneaking a few rows in (it even caused me to meet some new people this year for once), but on Wednesday, there was a bit of an accident. Don't worry, the yarn is ok, I happened to be the casualty this time. I was greasing up my bike chain before heading off to class in the morning and I guess I got distracted and let my hand slip a little too close to my front sprocket... Yeah, ow. My left index finger got caught between the front deraileur and the teeth on the biggest ring, so I now have two nice puncture marks on opposite sides of my finger (one is right in the middle of the pad, and the other is riiiiight below my nail). I have learnt that I cannot knit with any degree of comfort or speed with that finger bandaged, and it is also too tender still to knit with regardless. It's not like I was tearing through my scarf any way, but it was certainly coming along.

I promise to update with *something* interesting soon, but I have to go pull my Math Bars out of the oven now. (back in grade 12, we had these late night [8-10] math review sessions for our provincial exams, and I, for the life of me, couldn't hardly make it through the session without passing out. Then I came across some homemade granola bar recipes, and that saved me. Well, it kept me awake, I still did poorly. So now I have decided that the key to surviving math this year is going to be math snacks, and this week it's the good old Math Bars! I plan to experiment with various home-baked healthy goodies to keep my attention levels up)

It hath return-ed

Right, my camera is back in town!
Anyway, it is like Exchequered, but not entirely. I've been playing with the pattern a bit for something more unique. I think I have a little over 2 feet left to knit, or whenever my yarn runs out.



Back to studying now!

Dawn

I have come to an interesting realisation. I knit to unwind, to destress, to relax. I worked my last shift at my (now old) job a little over a week ago, and I don't start my courses again until the fifth of September. Also, my family is currently in Italy, they left about the same time I got off work. So really, overall, I am pretty relaxed right now, and when I am relaxed, knitting seems to fall by the wayside somewhat. Frankly, I haven't been doing much of anything at all, I don't know how I have managed to waste this much time, but it is a much needed break. Once classes get underway, I will have plenty of procrastination to do, so I should get updating again sooner or later, but for now, I'm going biking! Whee!

Heh, my bad

Right, those photos that I said I had? Definitely forgot to upload them. Here they are now, though. As I said, these were taken with an old 35mm (Pentax K-1000, my mother's from her university days), and are complete with the odd finger in the shot (no matter how much I shoot, I *always* get a finger now and then. I like to think it adds a human touch.)

(oh, and these are all on ravelry as well, for those using it)