Gitter Done

WARNING:

Half nekkid pictures below. Nothing PG13, but I'd rather not offend anyone...

Okay, I post three times in one day, then disappear off the face of the Earth? What the hell? You guys deserve much better; I wouldn't blame the lot of you for leaving right now...

Hey! Get back here! I can explain myself! I even have pictures!

Instead of blogging about my knitting, I have been knitting. In fact, I have been knitting the Angora Bodice like a woman possessed. I have not been this frenziedly monogamous to any one project in... I don't think ever. I'm not sure it's good for my psyche, but I am making bum-loads of Progress:

Here is the bodice at the first fitting late last week (please pardon the booby). If you look very carefully, you can also see my tattoo peeking cheekily from the bottom of the picture. Or is it belly-ly? It seems a little small, but only because I was too lazy to take it off the circular needle. I can tell you that the yarn is yummy, soft, and warm, probably why I've been knitting on it so much.

Now, this is the sweater as of... now. I went through the first set of purl ridges and 2/3 of the lace panel on Saturday when I was stranded in LA. Thankfully I was stranded near the public library, so I took some reading breaks to give my arm a rest. The library also had a cafe and gift shop, so I took a lunch break too.

Unfortunately, the breaks didn't save me from being achey on Sunday, so I did something else productive:

Behold my pattern collection, tucked into individual plastic sheet protectors, sorted by pattern type, and placed into a binder with color-coded dividers. No longer are mismatched pattern printouts wandering the house like they owned the damn place. That's Stinker's job!

I'm a Progress Knitter

I know, I know. Three blog posts in one day is too much...

But I have a contest!

See the poll on the side of the screen? Go ahead let the world know what kind of knitter you are and post a comment on this post letting me know you've participated (you don't have to comment with your vote, the whole thing is anonymous!). Everyone who contributes will be put into the running for something nifty.

No, I don't know what the nifty prezzie is yet... What do you expect, I've been posting all day!

All By Myself

Thanks to everyone for your kind thoughts during my ickiness. I am happy to report that my innards have, after much discussion, decided to stay put for the time being. Today was filled with recuperation, rehydration, and a fair amount of knitting and napping, my two favorite things.
Here is the Cotton Candy scarf picture I promised. The scarf was actually done on Monday, but this previous pic looks better than the finished product photos.

The knitted bodice is coming along rather well; I'm just getting into the region where every row is so... freaking... long... that it drives me bonkers. I am a repeat and a half from separating the sleeves again and am hoping for the best.

Boy is now working afternoons, which means I've spent the greater part of my sicky time by myself, watching dvd's and getting depressed. There is hardly anything in the fridge, and in my weakened condition I didn't want to make a big production of feeding myself, not to mention cooking for one is even more depressing.

That said, say a hearty Knitting Wounded "Heya" to my dinner tonight! I took a package of mashed potato flakes, a can of condensed cream o' celery soup, and some water, nuked it for six minutes, then added those fried onions you put on top of green bean casserole at Thanksgiving. It was much better than it sounds; I'm leaving a note on it for when Boy comes home: "You can eat this, just don't ask what it is". What do you want to bet it will be there in the morning.Oh, and here is a gratuitous kitty picture. While it may look like she was interrupted in the middle of licking her bum, she's actually getting all revved up for Socktoberfest. Are you?

Socktoberfest 2006

Socktoberfest?!? Hells yeah, count me in! I think I'll celebrate this auspicious month by knitting MYSELF a pair of socks for a change: Knitty's Pomatomus in the nifty aloe yarn my SP8 buddy Jen gifted to me.

Can you believe I just finished my first pair of socks at the beginning of this year?

Scurvy

Just a quicky post today. I am home today and tomorrow on dr's orders; apparently my body is trying to turn itself inside out.

Cotton Candy scarf is done and the Angora knitted bodice is on the needles. I got a shot in my right arm today, so not much knitting is getting done.

Gotta go, happy Talk Like A Pirate Day! Is there a Knit Like A Pirate day?

Maybe I have scurvy?

Progress

Boy's Birthday Weekend has been going swimmingly, mostly due to the fact that, now that he' s working, he just to hang around the house during his off days. Today is his official birthday, and I requested a vacation day for it before he started working. Eh, I'm getting burnt out, I'm taking the day anyhoo. I could use an extra sleep-in day, not to mention the apartment is filthy...

The numerous health code violations that have sprung up since we've become a two-income household has not kept me from making progress towards my knitting goals. May I present

the Mystery KAL Socks, a mystery no longer. They were made on the nifty rosewood dpns Jen (of SP8 renown) sent over out of a KnitPicks yarn that they don't offer anymore and that I don't want to hunt down the band for just now. It's a little after midnight and I'm afraid to wake up Boy and ruin his Birthday at work. [Edit: later 9/18: The yarn is actually Sock Landscape in the Tropical Sunrise colorway] I don't know why I'm worried though, Stinker just knocked my plant off the top of the bookshelf and he didn't stir much for all that racket.

I also finished the first Rowan Big Wool Tuft scarf, done in Shiver with the same lace pattern as the KidSeta scarf, just using larger needles (US15) and fewer stitches across. The yarn looks even more interesting in person and should be plenty warm. I started the pink version right after I wove in the ends on Shiver. The colorway is called "Powder Puff", but I think Cotton Candy is a better fit in this application.

I am still waiting not-so-patiently for my KnitPicks order; in the meantime I seem to be on a lace kick. I am trying to pin down the best pattern for my last two skeins of the black Rowan dkSoft. I'm wishing that I had the confidence to take on a bigger project before I started piecing out those balls; that discontinued softness could have made an outstanding shawl...

Quit yer beyitchin'

I am still weepy and paranoid and anxious, so I figure my hormones are putting me through the ringer again. Whoopee!

Having Boy out of the house leaves me with a bit of alone time everyday, and I always seem to get more done when he's gone. Actually, I think I'm just a more efficient slacker when I have an audience. Boy has been working overtime this week, which means more free time for me. I've been cooking, cleaning,

knitting cupcakes,

finishing my scarf,

and dying up a batch of sock yarn with Kool Aid. I am thinking of making a lacy scarf out of this batch. I learned a lot about dying yarn this time, especially about properly diluting your dye/drink mix/whatever and the effects you get with more direct application. And it smells like black cherry!!!

How do you like my swift? I had to give away a lot of my mother's things after she died, but this lamp was not one of them. I love this lamp, but I think I've outgrown the bits of newspaper on the shade. I think I'll get a wider shade next time to accomodate longer skeins.

Hopefully I'll be in a better mood for Boy's birthday celebration this weekend. Only two more god-awful days of work 'til the weekend.

Disconnected

My little brother is getting married.

Or, at least I think he is. He hasn't bothered to tell anyone yet, though his girlfriend is wearing what my dad termed "a rock" on her hand and got all emotional when my dad's gf hugged her.

Believe it or not, I'm more upset about not being told than not being married first. I can't really be that suprised; we haven't actually talked to each other in about a year and a half. One of us usually makes contact with the other's voicemail, but that's as far as it goes. My dad is a little peeved too, but the last time he got married he told everyone via email, so he has even less right to complain than I do.

I have not been this depressed in a good, long while...

Weekend o' Knitterly Angst

It has been a trying week in the Knitting Wounded tent. Medics have been applying Special Dark through the worst bits, but without much success.

I am happy to report that we now have a sink. Unfortunately, when I woke up at 3 am on Saturday to go to work, there was no hot water. That was remedied this morning, but not in time to save my mood.

After work I called Boy and asked him to grab my sock bag and meet me downtown so we could head over to the yarn shop and pick up the needles I need to get restarted on the knitted bodice.

When he showed up he had remembered the bag, but my loose dpn wasn't in the bag. I distinctly remembed putting it in the bag the day before, but I was so tired I just shrugged it off.

After an hour-long bus ride we get to the yarn shop, which I called earlier in the day to confirm that they had the sizes I needed. They had them alright, but they were $20 a pop... Someday that might be okay, but this is not that day. I headed out of the store a bit sheepishly and took Boy to lunch, then walked around until I was tired to the point of ickiness and needed to go home.

After a nap I went to KnitPicks and, defeated in my quest to get needles now, ordered up some of the Options needles in the sizes I need for the sweater. Oh, and the size I need for the shawl pattern and yarn I also bought. Oh, and some other stuff, all for the same amount I would have paid to have those two needles now. At this point I feel like an obsessive yarn pig and swear off buying yarn until I have room to store what I already have.

Then, like an idiot I go look on Etsy.com and see this. There's a sock yarn that's the perfect colorway, superwash merino, WITH MY NAME ON IT!!! Bekka yarn (close enough to Becka) is enough to kill a woman who has finally put her foot down. We will eat, I will not get the yarn. Dagnab it...

Suddenly it's midnight, but I cannot sleep because of the nap earlier. I start to clean up my little knitting area trying to find the lost dpn. I find and sew up some of the cupcakes,

but don't find the needle. I cuss at the snoring Boy and go to sleep myself.

Next morning Boy talks me into going to breakfast. On the way we're talking about the lost dpn. Boy feels bad because he thinks he lost it, and I'm trying to comfort him by saying that I have plenty of size 1 dpns. As I'm saying this we walk past this on the sidewalk:

What do you know, the bugger did lose my dpn! It's a little worse for wear after spending Saturday night downtown, but a little sanding and waxing should make the poor thing servicable again.

Oh, and I'm on the gusset of the second Mystery Sock KAL sock, in my opinion the worst part of the sock. After this one I'm going to start a pair for myself, maybe the pomatomus pattern from Knitty.

How was your weekend?

Holey Socks!

I posted in the Mystery Sock KAL that I would have pictures of the first finished sock on the blog.

Guess what I forgot to do until just now?

This is the Holey Sock pattern by Eleanor Gallo-Hendrikx. I have to admit that it wasn't my cup of tea, but it broke up some of the sock monotony I was trudging through. I am on the heel flap of the second sock already and looking forward to another finished sock.

Jen has a point (well, probably several, but enough about her needles), a set of interchangable circulars would be a very good investment. Not being able to pick up a stinking us7 is driving me up the wall. I'll probably go pick one up this weekend, if not a set... What do y'all recommend? Boye, Denise, or the new Knitpicks needles?

The Faucet, The Plug, & The Holey Spigot

There has been a significant bummer going on in the Knitting Wounded tent lately...


Okay, here's the story:

Two weeks ago the spigot for the bathtub fell out of the wall in Boy's hand; turned out the pipe was cracking and finally broke. While this explained why the paint was cracking and peeling off the walls, it also meant a weekend of bathing via the bathroom sink.

Last night Boy hears this hissing noise in the bathroom and calls me in to inspect. I find a puddle of hot water on the floor and think hot water feed to the sink is leaking, not a big deal. Until I feel the wall, which proved to be very hot and would release water when pressed. I used to do plumbing repairs with my father growing up, but anyone would know that we had a broken pipe inside the freaking wall.

This is our bathroom.

This is our kitchen, as seen through our bathroom.

At this point we are now sans sink, which is a great deal better than being sans shower. The knitting content? I was working on the Glampyre Knitted Bodice while Tony was working on the busted pipe:

I love the color, loving the yarn, loving the pattern. Hating the fact that I've been working on this for three straight days and it is WAY TOO FRIGGING BIG. I've decided to pull back on my needle size to adjust for the wildly varying gauge I have been getting. I am, however, lacking in the necessary size needle to do so.

$@#*!&%

I have come to a conclusion: I am a progress knitter more than a process knitter. I like watching the project build up, taking shape under my (sometimes less than) masterful fingers. Having to start over is bad enough, but not even being able to cast on because I'm lacking equipment is torture...