Someone made it into the post office today

Henry says, deliver me from this cruel, cruel world!

Therefore, he is off to Cowtown. HAHAHAHAHA. (It's been a long week.)

Seduced by free shipping

I picked up 10 balls of White Buffalo Unspun in a lovely chocolate brown, 10 balls of Patons Canadiana for my mom in a variegated pastel, and these:

A neat new yarn from Patons, with the very unoriginal name Soy Wool Stripes. It's a 70% wool/30% soy blend, in a few variegated styles. I got 6 balls in Natural Geranium, and I'm thinking a little felted bag would be a good test project. Pretty!

I love the bright colours of the Cottontots. These will become baby knits, and possibly a dishcloth or two.

I know, I know, this is really doing nothing for the destash challenge. But it's all so pretty! And, um, now I'm set for Christmas knitting...yeah, that's it...

Secret Halloween project

Pea and I have come up with a secret Halloween craft idea, which, if we had been smart several months ago, we would have worked out and then submitted to crafty magazines and such for possible publishing. (It's a SUPER COOL idea.) As it is, maybe we will just be super early for next year's Halloween issues! I'm going to write out some notes and work on a prototype this weekend. Yay!

Poor, sad Henry

He's SO close to being done:

I want to finish him. I really do! But I so very much suck at sewing up the poor little bastard, and I keep messing up dumb things like where exactly on the bottom seam to attach his little legs, and the tattoo on his leg that I have tried nine hundred times to do, and still cannot get right. (Sorry, Pea, I've given up on that. It's bad enough that his facial expression is somewhere between angry and puzzled, when I was going for stern.) I'm half-tempted to mail him to the Borg (Pea's office tower) as is, and wait for the report of office workers horrified at the sight of a dismembered voodoo doll appearing in their midst.

Supposedly I am studying to be an accountant

You would think that by now I would have learned how to add up rows. You would be wrong.

It's super cute, and at least four rows too short for me. Oh well, that's half a Christmas present for one of CM's nieces. They do live in a much colder city than me, and I know at least one of them likes pink. I wonder if I can make the rest of this skein last for a small felted bag...

At least I'm working from the stash

I just need to close up Henry's legs and sew them to his body, and he would be done. A 20-minute job, at the most! But there was a rain storm tonight and as I was cozied up in bed, watching Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire for the nine zillionth time, I started fondling yet another virgin skein:

I picked this up a couple of months ago on my first trip to Knitopia in White Rock. It's got the same sort of feel as Manos del Uruguay. I cast on for a 2x2 ribbed cap and should be done by the weekend. Nice quick knit.

Well, maybe I can fix it on the second one

On first glance, it looks good:

Project: Cable Footie from One Skein, first of two socks
Yarn: Bernat Big Value, red
Needles: Aero 4.5 mm (US 7) dpns
Started: September 10, 2006
Finished: September 12, 2006
For: Me!


My short rows were done well, and I only have one hole where I probably should have picked up the stitch a little closer in:

I even did the kitchener stitch on the toe properly, which in and of itself is a major accomplishment:

But, ok, what the hell?

What is with that massive amount of material at the instep?

I'm pretty sure the problem is that when I got to the foot, I had too many stitches on the needles. I'm a size 6.5, and I think I had the number of stitches specified for the largest foot size. This sock was made for a very short, very wide, massively overpronated foot.

That's right. I just made a hobbit bootie. Go me.

In progress: Cable Footies

I chickened out on doing the short rows on the anklet, and decided that I should practice first on bigger needles. Lo, the cable footies in One Skein are a perfect project! Never mind that I've never done cables before...I cast on for these last night and did the first pattern repeat. I don't know why it's taken me so long to get to cables--this one was super easy, and I even grasp the mechanics of it, which is rare for me on the first try.

These are done in a cheap but soft acrylic worsted, in bright red. Hopefully I get the wrap and turn thing down, and then I can get back to the other socks.

In progress: Anklet Sock

I cast on and knit the first six rows of the anklet sock.

Now I'm afraid. Do I soldier on with the wrap and turn method, or do I try one more time to figure out that backwards yarnover business?

Finished object: Ballband Dishcloth

First completed project in ages. This dishcloth has been sitting around since I bought Mason-Dixon Knitting two months ago. I kept meaning to finish it, but stuff kept getting in the way--new job, exams, summer holiday, etc. This long weekend is the first in ages that I haven't had to spend studying or working or away. Yay!

Project: Ballband Dishcloth from Mason-Dixon Knitting
Yarn: Bernat Handicrafter Cotton, denim colour, a little over 1 skein
Needles: Addi Turbo 4.5 mm (US 7), 16" circular
Started: sometime in July
Finished: September 3, 2006
For: My own kitchen

What I Learned:I have the memory of a gnat. It's a VERY simple 12-row pattern repeat, and I had to keep the book and the row counter with me at all times, or I messed it up.

I've used it already! The texture is perfect for scrubbing, and it's got a nice, soft feel to it. It's also a bit larger than it needs to be, so I'll have to remember to cast on a few less stitches next time.

Works in progress

I've rooted around in my various storage boxes and it turns out I've got four projects going right now:

1. Tempting sweater from Knitty. I started this nearly two years ago, when the pattern first came out. I ripped it out once, restarted it last Christmas, and it's still sitting around. As you can see, the first 8 inches of the body are done, and it really just needs a few weeks of concentrated effort for completion.
   
   
2. Henry Rollins doll from Stitch 'n Bitch Nation. This is for my friend Pea. I promised it to her way back in, oh, March? He just needs to have his legs sewn on--I suck mightily at finishing--and then he can be shipped off to Cowtown.
   
   
3. Not-Quite Straight Scarf from All Buttoned Up. (She's got a free PDF pattern up.) This is lunchtime knitting, for the rare occasion when I actually take a lunch break and don't have an afternoon workout. I've only got one pattern repeat done, but I won't be fussed about it until November, as this is Christmas knitting for either a cousin or my brother. (Both will be receiving cap and scarf sets from me every winter for the foreseeable future, as they both live in very cold winter towns.)
   
   
4. Ballband Dishcloth from Mason-Dixon Knitting. This just needs one more pattern repeat, and should be finished tonight.
   

My stash problem comes, of course, from the fact that I have a massive list of Things I'd Like To Knit, and I keep adding to the list! There's the pair of anklet socks that stumped me twice when I got to the part about correcting the twist in the yarnover (I think I understand the wrap and turn tutorial better). There's the Kitty Pi bed, which will need to be a generous 20-22 inches in diameter in order to comfortably fit my majestic tabby, Fox, and possibly a second smaller one for his adopted sister, Molly. There's the Moss Grid linen hand towel from Mason-Dixon Knitting, for which I made a special trip to the yarn store in order to get the Euroflax specified in the book (which I almost never do), because it looked so lovely. There are assorted baby knits from my favourite baby knit books, Debbie Bliss Baby Knits for Beginners and Erika Knight's Simple Knits for Cherished Babies. There are various felted boxes and bowls and bags and hats, because felting! fun! Notwithstanding the fact that I haven't got my first sweater finished, I'm already planning on picking up some KnitPicks Andean Silk for the Hourglass Sweater in Last Minute Knitted Gifts. And in a moment of insanity, I picked up a spindle and some roving from etsy, because spinning apparently seemed like a good idea.

I suffer a tiny bit from yarn-induced ADD, and I haven't been doing a good job of focusing my efforts. No wonder I've got so much stashed!

The destash challenge!

Really, it is ridiculous. 30 kilometres of yarn, accumulated in just two short years? Clearly my appetite for pretty yarns has gotten the better of me. I hesitate to institute a complete moratorium on yarn purchases (crazy talk!), but I'm going to make a huge effort over the next few months to get my stash back down to reasonable levels, i.e. a project's worth, say, or maybe, um, three.