And I'm off!

Headed off to San Francisco for the weekend. I might have to break my Yarn Diet, because my hotel is only a BLOCK from Artfibers!!! Natalie says it's fate. No damn way I'll be able to walk into that store and NOT buy anything.

There will be pictures of the loot when I get back, unless of course I buy so much I have to send it home via UPS or something (I'm only taking a carry-on).

Pic-a-tures!

No clever intro, just FOs! (No pic of Clapotis yet, still needs blocking.)


First the felted marsupial tote in its unfelted state. (It's still not felted.) I used less than half of the yarn that was called for in the pattern. Granted, I didn't make the little inside pouch, but that can't make that much difference. (It's on top of a 17" Powerbook for scale.)


Again, I hired my trusty teddy bear to model for me. Super Mittens from Weekend Knitting combined with a simple stockinette hat, both in Jiffy T&Q. I didn't notice the way the variegation striped on the hat until I took the picture.


The Crenellated Toe-Up socks from Cool Socks, Warm Feet. Notice the non-crenellation, which I think is a little picot edging thingy on the cast off. Tried that. Didn't like it. Not a big fan of how this yarn stripes. I still have another ball of it too in light gray, which I might try to get rid of. They look funny laid out, because the heel is across 60% of the stitches, but they're pretty comfortable.


And a basic openwork scarf in what I call "Easter Egg Eros." I might actually wear it on Easter, who knows?

AAAAHHHH!!!

I'm actually making progress on my whatever-number-of-projects I need to complete before buying new yarn. I've completed 4 (yes, pictures will be forthcoming eventually, I'm only home at night lately and the light in the apartment is crappy for pictures), and have 3 more on the needles. Funny thing though, I haven't really found myself wanting to buy all that much yarn. (Of course, I haven't been to the yarn store lately either, so I don't have that much exposure.) I think my next purchase, when the time comes, will be some of the laceweight from Knitpicks. I really want to make another shawl. (Hmm, I have Rowan 34...Birch?)

Right now I'm working on a multidirectional scarf in plum/burgundy/tan Encore, the Newsboy Cap from SnBN in Cashmerino Aran (so unbelievably soft, though I can see that it would pill in a more friction-y environment than a hat, it fuzzes up a bit between my fingers sometimes), and the Mermaid socks from the Lucy Neatby book in a bright Regia. For some reason, the heel placement is confusing me a bit, because of the spiral nature of the rib. I'll figure it out. I'm hoping they bloom a bit, because I cast on the proper number of stitches given my gauge, but they still look small. Gah.

Thought: sock blockers. Anyone got a couple wire hangers?

Non-knitting related PSA

Everyone, when you read this, *please* go check the batteries in your smoke alarms and make sure they work. Had a scare today in our apartment building, and in the middle I realized I hadn't checked my batteries in a while and thus it was a damn good thing I woke up when I did. I don't want to go into details, but just check the batteries. Please.

Knitting content will return soon. Possibly tomorrow if I get a chance to take pictures tonight.

Today I:

--cleaned out my closet and made room in front of my Yarn Wall.
--ordered a present for my Secret Pal receiver.
--received a Chinese New Year e-card from my Secret Pal giver.
--almost finished the toe-up socks (at least the tube part...have heels left to put on them).
--will finish the marsupial bag, except for felting, and I'm not making the pouch and the i-cord.
--sorted out some yarn to send as presents to a couple LJ-er/blogger pals.
--realized I still have way too much yarn in the stash.
--successfully avoided buying more yarn.
--wondered where the heck I'm going to get rid of several, single, uncoordinating balls of Cascade Fixation.
--listened to a LOT of bad music, and loved every minute of it.
--looked at my TKGA Level 1 yarn, considered it, and put it aside again.

To Rowan or not to Rowan....

...that is the question.

So I've been toying with the idea of a Rowan membership.

Pro: I love Rowan magazine.
Con: It's $44 for an American sub, and it's only two issues.
Pro: And free yarn! I've been seeing the free gift around the blogs, and it's 4 skeins of $11 yarn. Rowan Cork...their chained merino. 120 yards per ball, so a fairly reasonable amount.
Con: Do I *really* need new yarn????
Pro: I love Rowan magazine.
Con: I just checked again...it's still $44 for a sub.
Con: And it won't fit in my mailbox. Possibly the stupidest excuse I've ever made.

What to do....?

Started the Marsupial Tote tonight. It's a fairly quick knit, but once I'm done, it will take a bit until I get to a non-coinop washing machine to felt it. And I really think the yarn requirements are overstated, but since I'm only a couple inches up the sides, I could be wrong.

Random Friday stuff

FYI for those of you who are expecting yarn from me: I didn't make it to the post office today, but I'll get there tomorrow.

Finished a hat tonight that matches the Super Mittens I made last week. The hat could stand to be a round or two deeper, but considering I have a foot of the yarn left, I think I did the best I could with what I had. I also finished Clapotis last night except for the blocking, which it desperately needs. I'm not pleased with the edges, so I'm hoping blocking will help that. Of course, I need to find a new home for my blocking board before I can do that.

What to start next? I was thinking of starting the Marsupial bag from SnB, but the yarn I have for it is the same color scheme as pretty much everything I've made lately (red and black), so I'd like a change. Maybe it's time to pull out the Koigu for the gauntlets.

Suddenly having the urge to pull out the Kool-Aid. This could be dangerous...there's really no room in the kitchen right now.

Anyone have any suggestions for yarn stores in San Francisco that are open before 11am on a Friday?

Music meme

Obligatory knitting content: I'm almost done with Clapotis...started the decrease section last night. With any luck, I'll finish up tonight. Socks are going well too.

Now, I got tagged for this meme by someone I've never read (but immediately added to my Bloglines)...usually I do stuff like this on my LiveJournal, but what the heck.

1. Total amount of music files on your computer?
This is sad...please don't laugh. iTunes tells me I have 5810 songs, 16.9 days, 30.52 gb. Yep. That's a lot of music. Boy and I own a lot of CDs, and the iTunes Music Store is addictive.

2. The CD you last bought is:
I haven't bought a CD in ever, honestly (see above comment re: iTMS). If we're talking about iTunes, I just bought the complete U2 box set. 446 songs, lord!

3. What is the song you last listened to before reading this message?
It was last night...half of "Staring at the Sun" by U2. I paused it when my phone rang and never unpaused it before falling asleep.

4. Write down 5 songs you often listen to or that mean a lot to you.
-- "Don't Speak" by No Doubt: This song got me through my last painful breakup, and even though I have a wonderful relationship now, it still never fails to take me back to that time and make me cry.

--"Just Wait" by Blues Traveler: Have you ever truly listened to the words to this song? It sounds sad, but it's uplifting at the same time.

--"One Week" by BNL: It's my challenge in life to sing along to this song perfectly without getting tongue-twisted.

--"I Will Survive" by Gloria Gaynor: Cheesy, I know, but it brings back memories of high school and my friend Amanda's family room and belting it out with her over and over and over until her brother appeared to tell us to shut up :-)

--"Comfortably Numb" by Pink Floyd: The first Floyd song I ever heard. Boy was smart to expose me to this one first...if we had "A Song", this would be it.

5. Who are you going to pass this stick to? (3 persons) and why?
Well, I'm starting to think the knitblogs are saturated with this meme, so I may have to mix it up a bit:
--Kris, because I've realized that I don't know much about her besides that she knits, cross stitches, and has a very fluffy dog.
--Karrie, because she uses a Mac and needs to post more :-)
--Lara, because I'm seriously having a hard time believing she hasn't been tagged for this yet. And because she uses a Mac.
--(a bonus 4th, non-knitter person)Kelly, because I know how important music is to her.

Finally, knitting again

Even though things are still a bit chaotic at home, I decided that last night I was going to sit down and knit, and knit I did! I have one more straight repeat on Clapotis (actually, one repeat minus one row, I was going to finish the straight section last night until I seriously almost fell asleep on the knitting), so that's almost done.

Making good progress on the crenellated toe-ups too. Good bus knitting.

Got to look at The Knitted Rug last night. Mom bought it and let me borrow it. I wasn't expecting to be too excited about it, but there's some nice stuff in it. I'll have to make a couple. There's a simple seed stitch mat that would look good in the kitchen, and a spirally short-rowed one that I could put in front of the bed. Mom's liking the mitered square rug that's on the cover.

*considers colors of Sugar and Cream cotton* Yellow and blue for the kitchen, definitely. Bedroom? That's still up for debate.

Still considering what sweater to make next. Despite the voting, I think I'm going to stick with my original thought of Rosedale. I don't need another hoodie at the moment.