Thursday, September 30, 2010

Bruised by not Broken . . .

Last week I posted about knitting taking revenge on me.  Apparently, it wasn’t done.

This week has brought cold, rainy weather.  That in turn brought a strong urge to pull out my Hemlock Ring Blanket.  I settled in front of the T.V and consulted the chart.  I noted that the lace repeat included 14 k1, yo repeats.  Then I proceeded to knit 12 k1, yo repeats . . . over and over . . . until I had almost reached the end of the row.  And then I cursed.  A lot.

KCandHemlock

But then, I tinked.  A lot.  And knit the proper 14 k1, yo repeats . . . over and over.  And I finished that row.  And the four stockinette rows that followed.  And then I knit another lace row.  And some more stockinette.

Take that, Knitting!!  You may have beaten me up quite a bit.  But you haven’t broken me!!

Friday, September 24, 2010

Y@rn P0rn Friday . . . Stitch n Pitch Edition

It’s been quite a while since I’ve done Y@rn P0rn Friday.  Since projects haven’t exactly been flying off  my needles and onto my blog, I’m thinking Y@rn P0rn will 1) give me something to post about and B) help inspire me to knit up some of those lovely yarns in my OMGsoFlippinHuge modest stash.

Today I’m taking the easy (lazy) way out and showcasing the yarns I received in my Stitch n Pitch goodie bag.  After all, they’re the newest yarn and therefore not buried in the recesses of my stash.  (Say, speaking of Buried, have you seen the trailers for this movie!!  Wow!!!!  Limited release in select cities today!  In theatres nationwide on Oct. 8th.  SEE IT!!  Confession time: My good friend's husband wrote the screenplay.  But it seriously looks like an amazing movie - and who wouldn’t mind seeing Ryan Reynolds on screen the whole time?)  Ahem, back to the yarn talk . . . I also needed to take pictures so I can add it to my Ravelry Stash page, making the yarn a no-brainer for YPF.

Enough chatter.  Let’s get to the P0rn!!

SnPyarn
 Mmmmmm . . . . looking yummy.  Let’s take a closer look, shall we?

ZealanaEco112
Three . . .  count ‘em . . . . THREE lovely skeins of zealana eco (yes, that does say 20% possum) in a lovely brownish purple shade named 112.  Because nothing says brownish purple like the numbers 1, 1 and 2, right?  Funny thing is the website lists color names but not numbers.  I'm guessing my skeins are boysenberry, or perhaps dark earth.

AslanGlaciar2655
And two gorgeous hanks of AslanTrends Glaciar Del Cielo in a very pretty pinkish colorway descriptively named 2655.  Although it is also called Orchid on the web-site, which makes me happy.  I like to know actual names of my yarn colors, as opposed to the numbers.  I’m demanding like that!

So there you go.  My newest pretty yarn.  Next week, maybe I’ll highlight an older skein that’s Buried (shameless plug again!!) deep in the bowels of my stash.  Any requests??

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Revenge of the Knitting . . .

I’ve come to realize that T.V. is partially to blame for my missing knitting mojo over the summer.  Or more precisely, lack of T.V. is to blame.  Sure there were a few shows on cable networks like TNT and USA that I enjoyed, but for the most part there isn’t much to watch.  So my attention gets sucked up by my computer and my hands are too busy typing to knit.

Luckily, the new Fall season is off to a start.   I’m watching my favorite returning shows and sampling some of the new ones.  And my hands are once again reaching into the WIP pile.  All is right with my world, right?

Maybe not.  I picked up a baby sweater that is pretty close to being done.  I’m on the easy lace pattern the decorates the bottom half.  I put on an hour  long drama.  And as I got to the end of the first row . . . . .

revenge

I had one extra stitch left over.  One.  Extra.  Stitch.

Upon examination, I seemed to have K2 when I should have K3, less than 40 stitches into the row.  I had to rip back almost the entire row to fix it.

My neglected knitting is pissed off over being ignored all summer long . . . . and it’s exacting it’s sweet revenge.

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Everything is better with knitting . . .

Think about it.  Being on hold for 45 minutes?  Sucks.  Being on hold with your knitting project in your hands?  Cool.  Traffic at a dead stop?  The worst.  Traffic at a dead stop with a sock in progress?  Awesome, and beyond awesome if you are in the passenger seat.  Doctor running over an hour late on appointments?  Okay, okay, I’m sure you’ve caught on by now . . .

For me, baseball fits into the scenario perfectly.  Nine innings of men hitting a white ball with a wooden stick?  Boring!  Stitch n Pitch?  The best afternoon ever!

This was our third year attending our local minor league Stitch n Pitch.  Somehow it seems to get better every year.  There were plenty of knitters . . .

SnPknitters1SnPknitters2

The stadium was kind enough to provide yarn holders with each seat.  My sock-in-progress got in on the pictures, as did the corner of my awesome SnP goodie bag!  I wonder what non-knitters use the yarn holders for?

SnPyarnholder
We had a great view of B.B., the official Bluefish mascot.

SnPmascot

Oh, and baseball.  I almost forgot about the baseball . . .

SnPbaseball

It's true, knitting makes everything better, even for this non-baseball fan.  Knitting in the sunshine while my husband enjoyed the game was the perfect way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

Thursday, September 09, 2010

Perhaps a lobotomy would help . . .

I don’t know what’s been going on with me, but I can’t seem to stay knit-focused.  Heck, quite often I’m not knitting at all.  And when I do, I’m all over the place.  I’ve got so many projects going I can’t seem to keep track.  There hasn’t been any real progress on any of them.  Yet when a knit-mood strikes, I find a way to justify casting on something new.

Sock
Like a pair of ankle socks.  Because I could finish them by the end of August for Sock-A-Month.  (I didn’t - haven’t even finished the first one.)

BabySweater
Or a baby sweater.  Which goes fast, because babies are small.  (Yeah, right.)  I really need to get my act together on this one before the baby outgrows it and I have to start all over again.

Dishcloth
But a dishcloth is always a good idea.  They are so useful.  And best of all, they are quick quick quick.  (You see how I seem to keep gravitating towards quick projects?  Even so, I’m getting nothing done.

More
And then there are all those other projects.  Things I’ve started months ago.  Things I’ve started years ago.  Things I don’t even remember.

So, what is wrong with me?  Why am I either a knit-slacker or a knit-ADDer?  And really, do you think a lobotomy would help??

Wednesday, September 01, 2010

What’s the weirdest thing you’ve knit with?

Since the day I went on my insulin pump, I’ve pondered one thing.  Can you knit with insulin pump tubing?  (The tubing is the “leash” that runs between me and my pump.  It’s hollow plastic and the insulin flows through it into me.)  So when my good friend Lee Ann announced Diabetes Art Day, I knew my chance had come.

For the record, you CAN knit with insulin pump tubing.  But it isn’t easy and it looks like crap.  However, it made the perfect dress embellishment for my Diabetes Art Day project, entitled “Diabetes = Human Voodoo Doll” . . .

DiabetesVoodoo
If you click the picture, you can read some notes about the supplies I used to create my voodoo self portrait.