A long time coming

Alright, it's been a while.

It's been a long while.

I took a hiatus, primarily from posting but also (a little) from knitting itself. Something about the weather changing made me not want to work on wool sweaters and mittens, and something about my life changing made me not want to work on all those projects I enumerated in the last post. But I've picked up again, and we're back to business.

First, the WIPs: The greenwood vest? Body is done. I cast on for sleeves, after laboriously calculating what the set-in caps should look like, but I ripped out after shaping the first one because it looked like it was going to be way too snug. I have to increase the circumference of the cap and also (probably) the bicep measurement. It'll get there, though.

And a new one: the Queen Anne's Lace shawl by MMario, which is gorgeous, fun to knit, easier for a number of reasons than the Cap Shawl, and (get this!!) does not have a damn vandyck border. NO INTERMINABLE FINISHING! I'm at row 98 of 160. I am not making the mistake this time of calculating how many stitches I have yet to go - and this one, with only eight increases (ostensibly) per increase round and actual pattern of 32 increases per every four increase rounds, in a rather unpredictable manner, would take some doin', so.



Things change. Taste changes. The season changes. It's spring here in Boulder. I finally believe it won't snow any more - though as little as two weeks ago, it did. With the warmer weather, my experience of life changes. I wear less clothing, bike more, am getting tan. The song "Summer's the Worst" by Anthony Leviton comes to mind. I clean my room, it gets messy again; I feed the cat, and the cat gets fatter; I cook food and I eat it; the lace grows. Someday I'll get back to all those socks and sweaters that need my attention.

Taking Stock

Yes, it's been a while. I blame HatAttack... all that waiting around, adrenaline and bloodlust pumping through my veins, only to be killed a day before finally (weeks later) receiving a WIP for a second hat.

But it also seems to me I'm having a little trouble sticking with any projects these days. I've been holding myself back from starting any (large) new project, since I know I have plenty to work on, so bear with me while I think out loud about the WIPs hiding in my closet:

1. Fairisle sweater
Status: on hold until I a) figure out what kind of cast-on to go with, ultimately; b) resign myself to the fact that it's larger than I meant it to be

2. Greenwood Vest
Status: progressing slowly, maybe 50% done. Planning on making it a cardigan, not a vest. My TV-watching project, slowed by the fact that I don't have a TV.

Various projects waiting for the size 1 dpns -
3. Gryf mitts
Status: frogged, colors are not right, may turn them into socks instead

4. DK hat
Status: off the needles, yarn sucks, no plans

5. Random purple socks
Status: going quickly, but not for any good reason, just nice and portable. Afterthought granny heel sounded like a great idea - except without the heel shaping, socks are so boring!

6. Random self-patterning socks
Status: not even started! Good lord, I need more dpns!

7. Thrummed mittens
Status: on hold, it's not cold enough right now to be thinking about mittens


8. Cap shawl
Status: god damn vandyck border

9. Very Tall Socks
Status: ... is it ever realistic to expect to finish these? They're from so long ago, I haven't the faintest hope of gauge being the same without some hard work

10. Pkt Creatures
Status: three just need finishing


Damn. Gotta get motivated. I haven't been doing nothing these past weeks, just not a lot. I'll post some catch-up pics soon.

This Week's Progress and Dreams

Work continues both in real-life and in knitting land. Had a mini-review at my wonderful job and got some very nice feedback and now am back to plugging away. Also still plugging away at various projects. I'm not pushing the tempo at all, so I'm only through a repeat and a half of the diamond pattern on the Greenwood Vest, which post-blocking should translate to about three inches of entire vest. Also discovered that a co-worker is about to have his first baby, like, immanently, so I've joined the crowd making Saartje's Bootees - so cute!

I had this weird dream last night.. part of it was about cleaning toilets (maybe it's time to clean house? I did notice a little ring this morning). Part of it was about fleeing the city from some kind of society-wrecking disaster. And the rest of it was about stopping in on the yarn store, and trying to convince them that since the world was ending, they should let me take some yarn so that I'd be able to keep my family warm in the future. They grudgingly allowed.

So I was standing there, in the dream, and really doing some intense calculations. I knew I could only take what I could reasonably carry on my back with all of my survival gear - this was a serious dream! So I had just about decided that, although it would be less efficient weight-wise, it would be a better idea to take bulky yarn, since it knits up more quickly and I'd have a better chance of producing multiple sweaters. But by the time I started making a move to grab any, the entire store was swarmed with other people having the same idea: rabid knitters whose desert-island scheme was yarn, and lots of it. In that confusing way that dreams have, I kept putting things aside and then coming back to find them gone, and in the end was left only with cotton DK novelty. Bogus.

Small Things (Picture-ful)

Whew, the end of a long, knit-ful weekend. You'd think I'd have exciting things to share. You'd be wrong.

Just kidding!

My Webs yarn came on Monday. I am.. guilty but pleased. SO MUCH YARN! One surprise was the highland tweed. The stuff is really cool, but I'd hoped that the colors would go together better! There is still the orangey color available, and I think I'd recommend it to anyone who has time to deal with washing it. The change is amazing.



You can perhaps see the difference in thickness between the single strand of yarn and those in the washed mini-hank.

Craft night this past week was oh-so-fun. We had a new member, a lovely young lady who I connected with on Ravelry through the Boulder knitters' group! Long gone are the days when meeting "IRL" is a scary taboo, I guess. Seems like everyone I know is hanging out with people met through online dating sites. While there, I started work on my Greenwood Vest - actually more a raging purple color - as seen below. Please excuse the lame-o picture, it is late and I am tired.












Swatch

Swatch Vest

The pattern isn't exactly a fun knit - no shaping until the end, pretty repetitive, and my favorite element (the ribbed button bands and edging) don't get done until the entire thing is done! Add to it that it's knitted flat, and you've got potential for serious underwhelmage. Especially since it's purple and.. that might have been a poor color choice. However, for what it is, I think it is well designed, and the cabled diamonds are very elegant for the effort. It's nice to knit on in front of the TV.

My problem with knitting recently has been an overabundance of yarn and ideas compared with my needle collection. I'm actually being held back by not having the right sizes, or enough of the right sizes. Since my sock revelation last week, I've really been wanting to knit more.. but my size 1s are currently inside of a hat (that I left at someone's house!), and my size 2's are inside of a never-ending, very ambitious sock which will likely never be finished (hand-dyed yarn in three colors with natural, crunchy-granola vegetable dyes, striped, TWO-SIDED hiking socks).

So.. I contented myself with designing, mostly, and a little dying to go along with it. I have a new friend who is going to be very pleased when he gets what I've designed for him (assuming I ever get those size 1s back). So here's what I did:

Kool-aid dying, oh-so-fun!

You can see the result below, with another, my own special blend - here, turmeric and citrus tea (don't actually have any vinegar in the house, gosh!). It made for a really bright, not at all orangey yellow! Cool effect. Watch out that you only use a little of the spice, though - one teaspoon to 50g of yarn did it for me. Last time I used much more, and though I was pleased with the saturated color, I could never get it to the point where the wash water ran clear before I knitted it!

Together they make..? Geekery!

That's pretty much it. Not bad for a week. And I wasn't kidding about the socks, though. I've washed them and worn them more times than I want to admit since last week. People are starting to notice.

Worker-Bee Busy!

I have been so good! So very good! I work from 9 to 5 (or from 8 to 4 or 7 to 3 or 6 to 6 or whatever) and today I brought some knitting with me . . . and left it alone all day. It sat on the windowsill to inspire me.

Tonight we pick Craft Night up again! The year's first! Right now I'm working on what was to be a Christmas gift - remaking the very Dashing handwarmers for my gentleman. They are green again, but with fairly different yarn. This time they are in Plymouth Royal Llama Silk. Warm! Lightweight! Soft!

Again, I'm having trouble with the sizing. But whereas last time they were JUST TOO SMALL no matter what I did until I bumped the needles up two sizes - this time they were JUST TOO BIG! So I have frogged them, and I cast on another this time on sizes two smaller, and I am kind of a sad panda. In the process the yarn has lost a lot of its loft (plies now hug each other rather than the air) and the fabric is not nearly as soft. They really were too big, and they'll look better this way, but it hurts to spend the money on new yarn and not get the aesthetic benefits of new yarn. And with my luck they'll be too small this time!

Work has picked up again on my Fair Isle Sweater, as yet to be named. Also broke down and put in a rather large order for yarn at Webs. Have several projects in mind (greatly facilitated if my birthday present from my parents, arriving with same this weekend, is what I expect it to be!), including a handsome boy sweater, a handsomer boy-ish(?) pullover, and a cute vest for me! The first two are twinkling dreams of presents for men who have never received knitted presents from me before - so dream, young men, dream, knitting might be in your future!

Now, to Savers, for furniture! I've been without it long enough!