Pics to start off the weekend

I finally went out and took some photos of my swatch for Mystery Stole 3. I started out with US3 needles at the bottom, went on to US4 needles, and then used US5 needles at the top. I still need to block the swatch but the hemp doesn't have much give so I'm thinking the size should not change drastically. (don't laugh, it could happen)



Complete aside, the first clue for MS3 came out this morning and I've already seen at least two pictures of people who have finished the clue (about 100 rows). I wish I had that kind of time. It will probably take me all week to get my clue done. Plus, I need to order more beads since what I originally ordered will probably only get me through the Clue 2.

Now, you would think I would have done a swatch with Canapone before now but, um, I just jumped into using the blue Canapone for the Alpine Lace stole. It has finally seen the light of day again. I'm aiming to do at least one 16-row repeat every couple of days to see if I can get this done before the end of July. (I was going to write "by next month" only to realize that is the day after tomorrow. eek) I have finally reached the half-way mark.



This was supposed to be for a friend of mine who is considerably more petite than I am. I'm thinking that it will wind up swallowing her since I think its wide for me. So, I realized that I had a perfectly good Flower Basket Shawl just waiting for a happy home. It would be perfect for her since its the shoulder shawl size. Unfortunately, its been sitting in the baggie for so long that it needs to be re-blocked. The plan is to get that done probably on the holiday so that I can mail it out next weekend.

Thank you for the heel suggestions. I'll be spending some quality time working that out this weekend as well. Guess I'll just have to give up the housework in order to get all this knitting done. Oh, the horror. (Oh yeah, um, despite how good I've been on my yarn diet there was a huge sale at my local quilt shop. I maybe have the beginnings of a fabric stash. Don't tell.)

Foiled

I was all set to take pictures of actual knitting progress but the camera batteries are dead. So, I'm afraid you will have to settle for my word that I have actually been knitting. (Hopefully, there will be pictures by the end of the week.) I have been working away on the Alpine Lace stole because I'm tired of seeing it around. I think it will be great when its done but it is just taking a long time to get there.

I worked up a swatch for the Mystery Stole 3 -along. I am determined to use something in my stash so I'm turning to the Elann Canapone (100% hemp which does not seem to be available on their site right now) that has been sitting around, unused. Despite my love of lace, I don't seem to have that much laceweight yarn. Of course, I still have one more bin of yarn to catalog in Ravelry so there might be one or two other options lurking in there. Although I know for certain that if there is, it won't be in the recommended white/ivory/gray/black spectrum which Melanie is recommending for the project. As much as I love wearing black, the idea of knitting black yarn does not appeal to me. As for white and ivory, they're not really not my style. In fact, I can't remember why I purchase the neutral beige Canapone now.

For those of you not currently in Ravelry, it lets you inventory all your yarn, patterns/books, and needles. This has made me realize that I really have plenty of yarn options at the ready. Of course, those options may not seem perfect for the pattern that calls to me at any given moment, but it does help to see what could work with the pattern. Plus, you can see what other people have done with a particular pattern. I'm actually hoping that putting all the information on Ravelry will help me maintain my yarn diet. (I'm doing fairly well, I've only bought new yarn to make socks for my Sockapalooza 4 pal since her yarn taste is different than mine.)

Speaking of socks, I have been working on my pal's socks. The pattern I picked, Horcrux socks (the original pattern was in a heavier weight, I believe) from the Six Sox Knitalong, was originally written to be made cuff-down. Since I only got the two skeins and my pal probably needs the large version, I wanted to make these toe-up to be sure I did not run out of yarn. Now remember, I've only done Fuzzy Feet and Twinkle Toes. That is to say that I have been tearing my hair out trying to figure out how to make the heel. In theory, this is not difficult. However, I don't actually understand the theory of how to create a short-row heel so I've been trying to figure out the general rules based on looking at a number of different patterns, or even trying to find a pattern that has the same number of stitches that I have so I can just follow their instructions. Let's just say that many attempts later, the socks have been banished to the corner until I have the patience to try again. (I have checked this site which is great, full of options but seems to link to actual patterns rather than giving an explanation of how each toe or heel works. I think its one of those things where understanding comes with time and experience.)

This working regular hours and increased days of the week when I go to the Orlando office is putting a real dent in my crafting time. How do people have full-time jobs, kids and still manage to churn out FO after FO? Again, listing all my UFOs on Ravelry will hopefully inspire me to finish more of them.

The cool kids *do* like me

I got my Ravelry invite. woo-hoo!!

I have to finish working, meh, but tonight I can start joining in the fun.

My first RAK!

How awesome is the kindness of knitters? and the (sadly blogless) AlexJ (of the Knittyboards) in particular?

AlexJ sent me a much appreciated surprise in the form of three handknit dishcloths.



Purty, ain't they?

and some sock yarn that looks like it might work for this FL heat:



Thank you, AlexJ!!!

Hubby asked if I was seriously going to use them for the dishes because they were too pretty. They may be pretty, but they are going to work for their keep and maybe even pull double-duty as trivets. mwhahaha...Me? sniff wool fumes? Never. I don't know what you are talking about.

Some sewing, very little knitting

I've always wanted to quilt. I still have my first attempt at quilting from my 7th grade arts class. Now it is a doggie blanket. I actually like it and may even get bold enough to take it apart and try to put it back so its actually in straight lines now that I have a machine.

I've never been much of a book-learner so I signed up for a beginning quilting class. Our pattern is Ribbonworks by Ursula Riegel. I picked very different fabrics.

Block detail:


Blocks laid out in pattern:


My next class is on Monday night and we'll put them together to create strips.

The knitting has not been getting as much attention but there is knitting. First, I did a swap with Curlytop. In exchange for a few bags of coffee*, I got the KnitPicks 32" circular needles in size 1 and size 2. I used them to do some swatches with my yarns for my Sockapalooza pal. I liked the Supermerino fabric using the 2s but only had the one circular. I've been to the KnitPicks site a bunch of times to get the needles but I kept feeling guilty about getting more yarn just to make the minimum. So, I went ahead and started the sock using my bamboo dpns.



These will be getting frogged later tonight because I completely miscalculated and right now they are big enough to fit a lumberjack. I definitely like the pattern and might try to change it so I can do it toe-up on two circulars. That way the changes in my gauge over time will be the same on both socks and I hopefully won't run out of yarn. Since I've decided that I like the KnitPicks needles and KnitPicks is having a great sale on a bunch of yarns, I think I will order more and re-start the sock later.

In the meantime, I came across these socks. Aren't they cool? I think the Stillwater yarn may have finally found its purpose.

*I used to stock up on coffee whenever it went on sale. I have found out these last few months that my daily cup (or two) contribute to the severity of my migraines. I had cut back to just a (mostly) decaf cup every once in a while but was still making it for hubby. Well, it turns out that the coffee was contributing to his gastro-intestinal issues so he can't drink it either. I figured the coffee should go to a good home and if I could get something knitting-related out of it, even better.

It was just a matter of time

OK, so I've been tagged by Pam for the 7 things meme. It seems like everyone has done this. The trick will be, can I list 7 things that aren't in the 100 things about me or in the last 6 weird things meme.

1. I would take baked goods (cake, cookies, sometimes even some fresh bread) over chocolate (candy bars or those fancy boxed chocolates) or ice cream, 9 times out of 10. Of course, if its all combined then there's no need to choose, right?

2. I don't like handling raw meat. For years I was a vegetarian but only because I couldn't get past the fleshy texture of raw meat. I have gotten over it and will cook meat now but it still makes me a little queasy sometimes (with chicken especially).

3. I have gotten over most of my food issues from when I was a child except for cauliflower. Its a texture and taste thing. The only time I will eat it is as the base puree for a soup, otherwise I will pick it out of my food.

4. You can tell what kind of day I've been having based on the state of my bed.

5. Even when I have written it down, I forget people's birthdays/special events. I've even come close to forgetting family birthdays (like my mom's or my sister's). I blame this on my parents--my father only remembers our birthdays because my mom reminds him and she usually forgets to get anything for us until that day, although she will remember to call.

6. My little sister and I share the same taste in romantic comedies and in "cute" clothes. If I think some article of clothing is really cute & trendy, I'll try it on and if its tight, I can send it to her and know that it will fit her & she'll like it. However, since she's 14 years younger, I probably have no business trying those things on in the first place.

I don't think I can do any more of these memes--I'm running out of things to tell you about myself.

If you were trying to post on the last entry and couldn't, I apologize, I didn't realize I had to set the options for each entry since I can't find where to change it globally.

I haven't done much knitting lately and have just been swatching and trying to find a good pattern for my sock pal. However, I signed up for this year's Stitches East and got my first-choices. I better get cracking on my purchases from the last trip so I can buy more guilt-free.