I just want to state for the record how very, very much I hate sewing. It takes away time I could be using to knit. But....I finished two things that only needed to be sewn up. UFO night continues...pictures later.

Progress...no pic yet.

I've made a LOT of progress on Shapely since last post. Tonight I got to the bust shaping and have done one set (out of 12!) of the short rows. I've done a lot of stockinette stitch today, and have come to the conclusion that I hate purling. Maybe it's all those garter stitch scarves I've done and all the practice I've had at the knit stitch, but my purl rows take twice as long as my knit rows. Maybe next scarf I do I'll purl every row for the practice. It'll look the same.

I think tomorrow's official UFO will be the beaded scarf. I've screwed up so much (already!) in the second row, and mohair's so hard to "tink", that I think I need to just start over. I'm not looking forward to casting on 237 stitches again, but every scarf I've seen posted in the knit-along site looks so good that I'm inspired to get cracking on mine. Not tonight though. My eyes are too bleary. But before that I'm seaming up everything that needs seaming and weaving all the ends that need weaving! (I need to start weaving ends as I go. Argh.)

Randomness

Note Ayla attempting to help. I've just started the waist shaping on the front. The front will take a little longer than the back, alas, because of the short-rowing at the bust. I have to admit I'm still not entirely sure how short rows work...I did exactly what the pattern said to, with the wrapped stitches and everything, down at the hem, and I *still* have little holes. I have to get this figured out by the time I make Kelly's sweater (Pinup Girl from SnB), because it *features* short rows. I'm not giving my best friend a sweater full of holes unless it's supposed to be full of holes, goddammit.

If you're actually looking at this page (rather than reading from your friends list), you may notice that I have two projects 95% done. Basically that's code for "I have to sew the dang things together, but at least I'm done knitting them." If I'm lucky, my evening will be spent with a needle sewing. (Not that I need the wrist warmers, since it's getting pretty warm, but it would be nice to finish the kitty bed for Ayla so she can stop nosing at the current knitting.)

Knit knit knit, all day long...knit knit knit, while I sing this song

Got some patterns from Patternworks and Elann today. I absolutely love how they send the patterns already in sheet protectors. That rocks so hard. The only problem with sheet protectors is they make the pages stick out far enough in the binder that the tabs on my dividers don't show. I might have to take a trip to Staples and see if I can get some wider dividers. I'm soooo excited about making the Charlotte's Web shawl. (Yeah, I'm catching on to it about a year after every other knitting blogger.) I'm thinking if I can get it done by Russ's Christmas party, I'll wear that over a simple black tank dress. Mmm. I also got a couple patterns from White Lies Designs and a few Berroco books. I enjoy those books because most, if not all the patterns, go up to a size that I can wear (and usually a couple sizes bigger...rock!)

Stash organized. Every single ball of yarn I own is in *something*. And holy shit, there's a lot of it. As soon as I get the Koigu I want for Charlotte, the yarn diet begins.

I'm going to spend the rest of the day swatching for the Shapely Tank with some cotton yarn I got from Elann a while back in a green/blue/white colorway. Spring's finally coming here in Maine, I have to be ready!

UFO night recap

So I did what I said I was going to do. I seamed the beige hat (and even though it's a bit too big, it's still pretty cute), I finished knitting the kitty bed, and I worked on the beaded scarf. Holy crap, that fine yarn is driving me absolutely crazy. This is going to be a slow project.

Today I *really* need to organize my stash. It's just all thrown together in bins, no rhyme or reason.

Thursday...UFO night.

And one of my UFOs, of course, is blogging about my FOs.






These are all Kool-Aid dyed Patons Classic Wool Merino. (The colors look much more vibrant in person, my digital camera is a POS.) The bigger balls are ~200 yards each (one full ball), and the smaller ones are ~100 yards each (half a ball each).


This is a simple mesh hat I made out of about 2/3 a ball of Cascade Fixation (cotton/lycra blend).


This is the infamous Coney Island Fireworks Scarf. It's made of navy blue Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece and blue/copper Trendsetter Yarns Metal. Never again. Never friggin' again.


And another scarf made out of beautiful, beautiful Crystal Palace Splash. This one will be going to hockey games with me next year.


Tonight's UFO is my kitty bed. I got through quite a bit of it last night, and I have about 5 more inches before I can sew it together. I'm hoping to finish the knitting tonight, as I think I'm going to need help sewing it together. After that, I'm hoping to work on the beaded scarf for the knitalong, or starting a Shapely Tank with some random stash yarn. And I've decided against frogging the beige hat, so I'll seam that up tonight, if only to free up the needles.

*ribbit*

Well, I think I'm going to frog the beige hat. It's going to be too big, and I don't think I'll wear it anyway. So, now I need something else to do with one skein of wheat heather Wool-Ease.

Did another couple inches on the side wall of the kitty bed last night while I couldn't sleep. About halfway through. It's slow going because, truthfully, it's kinda boring. It's just straight garter stitch. So I just need to get it DONE.

My nerdy-ass self put together an AppleWorks database last night for my yarn stash, just so I can keep track of what I have. It kept me calm too. I'll continue working on it tonight, because I need something to keep me calm again.

Later, there will be pictures. I have one more hank of Kool-Aid yarn to wind into a ball, and then I'll take pictures of that and all the FO's since the last photo-post. Promise! (Besides, I finally replaced the batteries in my camera.)

Pondering

Well, I said on my main journal that I was taking a hiatus from blogging because of some things that are going on in my life. But I think I'm still going to keep up my knitting journal, because, with all this stuff going on, knitting seems to be the only thing that's keeping me sane right now. So I'll still be posting here.

I still owe some pics of the two blue scarves I've made, a couple of hats, and some Kool-Aid yarn. I've rolled 3 out of 4 batches into balls, and they look pretty cool. I'll have to swatch them and see how they turn out.

On the needles:
Still working on the kitty bed and the Homespun sweater.
Finishing up a beige hat.
Still casting on for the beaded scarf (230 stitches of really fine yarn really tests my patience.)
Going to start a Bottoms Up Bucket Hat (http://www.chicknits.com) in Cotton Fleece. I ordered banana and putty, which one should I make first?

In the process of converting my needle collection to bamboo. I'll have to sell the metal/plastic ones on eBay.

Another knit-along!

This time it's a beaded mohair scarf. Mine's out of "marmalade" (uh, orange :-) ) Rowan Kidsilk Haze. Mmm, soft. I'm having so much fun stringing the beads onto the yarn *eyeroll*

Last night I finished a bucket hat out of Noro Iro, and now I just have to block it. I should have distributed the decreases better on the brim rather than pair them up next to each other. The brim has an odd point on it now. Other than that, I haven't finished anything since last entry. Le sigh. I've been so depressed I haven't even felt like knitting.

In one of the knitting communities I'm in (I can't remember which one and I'm too lazy to open my friends page and check), tonight (and possibly every Thursday night) has been proclaimed UFO night (UnFinished Object night), meaning finish something that's unfinished tonight. I suppose I finished something, but it doesn't really count since I started it today. It's a cabled/seed-stitch hat out of some of the rest of that Wool-Ease T&Q denim twist yarn. The pattern's out of Hip to Knit, and the damn thing is wayyyyy too long. Kinda big too. But I can fold up the ribbed edge to help with the length and it's all good. I wasn't sure how it would turn out with the twist yarn and the stitch pattern, but it's not bad. Either way, it'll keep my head warm at hockey games next year. (Note: seed stitch in a bulky yarn is my new favorite thing. So cushy feeling....)

I'm working on a PDA cover out of the same cotton/spandex yarn I made the lace hat out of, but I think I may frog it. The stitches are really uneven....I think my tension's off, because my stockinette is usually fairly nice looking. I still need a cover though...I think I may make it out of some Kool-Aid yarn I have though. Or the random Plymouth Floral Splash I couldn't resist picking up on sale at the LYS. Or one of my half-used skeins I have kicking around. Or....okay, I'll stop.

Now, should I go to bed or work on Tiff's scarf? That might bore me to sleep at this time of night, since it's just knit knit knit knit. Argh. I need to step up to more challenging stuff, and soon.

I went through my yarn stash last night, wrote down an inventory of all the yarn I have, and realized that I'm definitely making Christmas presents for people just to use a bunch of it up. Holy crap! I should go through it and figure out who would like what.

I made a lacy hat out of Cascade Yarns Fixation. I really enjoy working with this stuff. It's mostly cotton, with a bit of stretch to it, and you'd think with the extra stretch it would be hard to work with, but it's really not. You just have to make sure to keep your tension even. The colorway I used is a pale pastel rainbow, and it's nice. Very springy. It was an easy lace pattern too (yarn over, knit 2 together, repeat), so I got bored near the end. I want to make one in a more complicated lace, but I'll have to figure out the decrease pattern to blend in with the lace, as well as modify any lace pattern I find to work in the round, since most of them are written for flat knitting. BTW, I still hate double pointed needles, but they aren't as bad to finish something on as they are to start something on.

Kitty bed is going well. I'm probably a third of the way through the side of it, then comes the sewing. I should work on my sweater some more, I'll need it for the lab in the summer, since everyone here loves their AC.

Socks are the devil.

I think I'm going to end up going to the LYS when I get home and begging for help, because I can't even get through the first round without wanting to stab myself in the eye with one of those tiny double pointed needles. Good thing I brought other projects down here with me :-)

Started and finished another Splash scarf, this one in blues. I made this one a bit narrower than the first one, so it's quite a bit longer. Now Tiffany wants one, so I'll be picking up yarn for that tomorrow. And the kitty bed is progressing quite nicely. I don't see how any cat could NOT want to cuddle up against this stuff, it's so fuzzy-fun-comfy. Now I want to make one for every cat I know. Wonder if the shelter would appreciate donations.

New project:

I'm taking two potential projects with me to Portland. One is the Princess Snowball Kitty Bed from SnB (black and sandstone, in case anyone's wondering), and the other is socks. I'm going to come to terms with the whole double pointed needle thing, I think. (Not bringing the Homespun sweater, it's getting a little heavy to be portable.)

Coney Island: And the goddamn thing is

DONE!!!

Damn thing's 6 1/2 feet long. I didn't even use up both skeins of eyelash like it says to in the instructions in SnB (had to throw away some tangled bits), and the scarf was only SUPPOSED to come out to 4 feet. Hrm. Pictures will have to wait, b/c it's almost 12:30 and I should really be in bed and asleep by now.

Yarn shopping in Portland in a couple days, woohoo!