Not much to say

Sorry for the lack of posts! I've been pretty busy painting the house and training the pup that I haven't been able to knit NEARLY as much as my sanity needs. Just the other day I found myself in a verbal argument with Fez.... It started with me calling him fat, he responding with some non-verbal that played through my head as an insult and then me insulting him again before I realized what was going on and laughed at myself.

I'm hoping to get the painting done before the end of October... I actually wanted it done before the beginning of October but my helpers (my family) thought a break might be in order and we aren't painting for the next two weeks. :( In my head we have nothing to do for the house after the painting, not for a while anyway. Get new carpet is first on the list and we have to save up some more money (how much does carpet cost anyway?) and make sure that Anya is sufficiently house-trained so that we can leave her loose during the day without having to worry about little 'accidents'. I know she can hold it all day, her crate is clean when I come home from work but on the weekends when she's loose with us home she has to pee more since she's not sleeping all the time.... The other night Michael and I left her in the laundry room with a baby-gate at the door... she wasn't there when we got home and the baby-gate was still perfectly upright! Not sure what the next step is from here....

Knitting... well I started the second sleeve to my pink summer cardigan, it is now sitting in the car for my stuck-by-a-train knitting. And I've been knitting a bunch more on the Irtfa'a shawl, nowhere near half of the border is done. I've also received the yarn for the rest of my Equinox Pullover. I'm really in a 'finishing' mood because I feel I've got too much stuff on the needles and I can't keep track of it all. Hopefully after I finish up a thing or two I can get back to some 'gift' knitting... that's what I'm calling it but I wouldn't be surprised if I didn't finish the projects in time for wearing this year...

Also, I had a 'photo shoot' with Anya this weekend, hoping I can sort through the pics soon and get a few posted.

A general catch all of all the knitting I have to show

Ok, before I forget: In the last post I mentioned the green sock knitting in traffic jams and that it only helped 'slightly'. It actually helps immensely and I'm often torn between wishing for traffic problems and getting home as quickly as possible! Since the sock is in the car, I have no pics. :( I have to carefully snap shots whenever I can (AKA: sleeping puppy) and that doesn't happen when I often have the energy to stage some shots or there is good light!

Um.... so first, an update on Irtfa'a:
(And yes, it is stretched between two plates, for those who were really looking.) This is coming along really well. The pattern is very clearly written and I've gotten to the main body of the shawl which means that the knitting should get done a lot faster now. My only concern is that I've barely put a dent in the 1700 yard skein that I bought because the shawl pattern said something like 1200 yds.... I'm wondering if I should be concerned that the gauge is wrong (even though I did swatch) and that I will need to rip back and start over...? I really like the way things are looking now though, so I might just continue as is and see if I'll need to add some extra repeats towards the end.

Also, apparently I never posted anything about a new shawl that I've started with some of the remains of yarn from the wedding shawl. It's the pattern from page 100 of Victorian Lace Today called 'Scarf with edging 21 and insertion25'.... An odd name, but that's what it says. This is intended to be a gift for someone and I wanted to get an idea of what the finished dimensions would be in this yarn, so I blocked part of it!
It's looking pretty good! I've decided to go ahead and add 2 more repeats to make it a total of 21 repeats (seems a better number) before I do the second border piece.

Also, I knit this shawl a long time ago with some yarn I got from the Estes Park Wool Festival. I've only worn it a few times and feel that it might do better in a different home. However, this shawl is overly long (even on me) and the intended recipient is at least a foot shorter, so I'll have to rip back and finish the shawl in much shorter dimensions. Not too hard since the edging consists of something like 5 or 6 rows of garter stitch.
I've been working on my Pink Summer Cardigan again and am almost finished with the first sleeve. I don't have any pics but I tried the sleeve on and all seems well. I'm mostly concerned about how long I should knit the sleeve before deciding that it's ready to be attached to the yoke of the cardigan... I've only knit one sweater before this and I wasn't thoroughly impressed with the shoulder seaming...

And finally, a pic of Anya who now weighs 15 pounds and is developing a BRIGHT orange spot on her head right between her ears. I think people give us strange looks when we are on walks, something to the tune of, 'What on EARTH did they do to that poor puppy?!'

Gr... Argh....

Sorry for such a long delay; I was waiting for a time when it was warm, not windy, still light out, and I was free so that I could do my shawl photo shoot and it still hasn't come!!

In the meantime, an update is in order.

I got these two packages on the same day!

This second present is a German published magazine in which a very talented designer used to publish some of his lace work. GORGEOUS!! I'll just have to pick out a pattern....
... and translate it to English...

I cast on for the Equinox Yoke Pullover from Interweave Knits a little while ago.... I messed around with the pattern for a VERY long time before I realized the easiest way to knit this would be in the round, bottom up. So I have now reached the yoke, where you set aside the main part of the sweater and get started on the sleeves. (I'm a little further along than the picture indicates, but the color is pretty accurate).
My first bit of colorwork in a sweater!! I'm a bit nervous. It also doesn't help that the sleeves are too narrow for circular needles.... DPNs and colorwork? I know I've done it before but this time it's serious (sweater serious)!

I also got to the same point on my pink cardigan some time last week during a gaming fest with some friends. The game was long and there were a lot of people playing so there was plenty of knit time just waiting to be used!

Knitting Recession?

So I tried on that shrug as I went... got the first sleeve done, sailed through the back and that second sleeve seemed to take FOREVER. Well I put on my little outfit and tried on the (almost finished) shrug to discover..... it DIDN'T FIT! The second sleeve was MUCH too short (read: 3/4 length) and the back was too long! I also just could not see how this *thing* was supposed to look like the finished picture with their placing of all the increases and decreases.... It died :(

I love the yarn and would like to knit up a shrug with it but with a more... intuitive pattern. Also, I decided the dress wasn't for me and I'll be returning it.

I haven't yet started the Interweave fair-isle sweater yet; I feel like I should finish up something a little more summery first. Enter the pink cardigan.

I haven't gotten a picture of it yet (the weather has been quite gloomy around here for a while now) but I am past the waist increases and will be working my way up the chest to the arms before I'll be seeing any adventure here.

It's no wonder a girl gets a little startitis with what's been going on around here! I started a new pair of socks. I decided I needed something small and mindless that would not offend me if I had to frog it. So I went with the 'Genteleman's Sock with Lozenge Pattern' by Nancy Bush in a nice spring green: Olive from Oriridraco! I love this yarn and this pattern! Even my mother commented on the gorgeous color. :)

I haven't been knitting very much lately and I really think its because of all the letdowns (even though there don't seem to be many) recently but I feel I'm on the mend! Pics to come later.

Setting in sleeves has certainly proved to be a pain!

Well, my goal was to be able to set the sleeves in the cardigan today and finish up the ribbing around the neck. So I sat down with my yarn and needle and seamed and seamed. The armhole was matching up well, then on to the arm. I tried the cardigan on several times to make sure that everything was working out and looking ok. Other than being entirely wrong it seemed ok. :)
The whole thing looked too small and the buttons gaped when I buttoned everything up. I'm also a little disturbed with the way the shaping for the armholes was done up in the pattern.
Here, you can see what I mean. On the left side you can see where the armhole shaping begins and then there is a very steep 'ledge' of about 16 decreases to where the shoulder seaming occurs. What's up with that?! It makes for very odd cap shaping when the sleeve is set in, you can kind of see in the previous two pictures and this next one.
And then....
... if you look closer you can see that the sleeve is all wrong. It just isn't going to line up and give me a good sleeve. I'm going to have to rip it out and try to reset the sleeve. Bummer. Needless to say I'm a little aggravated and won't be continuing any further today. The fact that the whole thing just seems too small is not a motivating factor.

On the plus side, I finished the first 'anklet' sock Thursday night while I was waiting for Michael to get home from the midnight showing of Spiderman. From what he told me, I didn't miss much and had quite a bit more fun at home.
I love this sock! When I first tried it on after completion it didn't seem quite right for me. I've always worn those cheap white cotton socks that you get in bundles from the store and they're always a bit looser and breathable than the socks I knit up. But I think the stretchy lace and the ankle-height of these socks will allow me to ease into enjoying hand-knit socks, or at least I hope so.
Also, I've been getting a lot more spinning done than knitting. I've really been enjoying myself and intend to fill up this bobbin before plying. And, in case any are wondering, I've been not working on my sweater for Rachel. I told myself that I would only start the socks as a motivational project to finish this damned sweater. You know, knit a certain time on the sock and then an equal time on the sweater. That didn't happen and I've now got the yarn out beside me and have prohibited any spinning that I might want to do until I finish the front. Today is a less than fun day in lilac land.

Crochet?! What?

This is what my living room floor looked like Saturday night.
That blanket, it has been crocheted. I started it last summer after I did a little crochet experiment to see if I would like it. Apparently I liked it enough to go buy some cheap acrylic yarn and an afghan pattern book... I found the blanket with all the blue made up, just needing a border.
I realized that this would be a great house-warming gift for a friend that was moving to a new apartment on Sunday, so I finished it. Granted the weather is now consistantly in the 60s and 70s so she probably won't be needing the blanket, she liked it.

A little aside, I actually do enjoy crochet, just not with acrylic. I have a set of 5 hooks and a desire to produce more crocheted products. I've been toying with the idea of a granny-square afghan using just a few colors to match my living room. This would allow me to crochet a little bit every once in a while, just when I want a small change from knitting and granny squares are perfect for that! Does anybody think that is just incredibly dorky? Are granny-squares awful and not to be seen in a 20-something's apartment?

This same friend is getting married in late June and expressed a desire to knit up something to wear for her wedding. She's fairly new to the knitting thing (she didn't even finish her first scarf) so I said she probably shouldn't try to knit up a sweater and plan her wedding at the same time. Also, she really liked the whole idea of the lace hoodie I'm knitting for myself. Well, a little light went off and I decided to knit her a similar lace-y summer shirt. She's not a fiber whore like I am so she's perfectly fine getting acrylic knits. While I was looking through my stash on Saturday I found a whole whack of white acrylic yarn (don't ask) and thought there might be enough to make a sweater. If I run short I'm fairly certain I can run over to the nearest Walmart and pick up another skein. Anyway, this is the pattern. And here a shot of the finished back.
The pattern is knit on size 10.5 needles. That's HUGE! So while I should be able to crank this project out pretty fast, I hate it. I'm just slipping it in the knitting queue before my own lace hoodie.

I geuss that I prefer smaller needles, no matter the size of the project. Also, I HATE acryilic yarn! It's all stiff and scratchy and makes my wrist hurt to knit it up. Still, it'll be nice to get rid of all this acrylic. See, before I became a fiber whore I collected quite a bit of cheap acrylic yarn and this blanket as well as the white yarn relieves me of at least half of the acrylic cr*p.

Anyway, back to the picture of my floor Saturday night... You can also see my cardigan blocking. It took until Monday morning to dry because I blocked all the pieces in twos to make sure everything matched (sleeve on sleeve, front on front, and the back folded in half). Well, yesterday I set out to seam it and ... realized the eye of my needle was too big. I'm a little worried now because I've never seamed a sweater before and I think if I don't get started soon the sweater might be doomed to wander around in pieces forever! I noticed that my yarn store sells needles up by the register for 25 cents a piece. I'll pick one up when I'm in Boulder tomorrow for Wednesday knitting with Val and Maria.

Last night after binding the back off of Rachel's sweater, I was really craving some small needle knitting with something of more color. So, I pulled out my green sock yarn and swatched for Hedera.
I love this yarn! It's superwash/acrylic... But it's much softer than the 100% acrylic and the green is so pretty! I'll be knitting these up as ankle socks for some summer sock wear.

An update on my spinning activities. This is the variegated merino that I navajo plied.
I quite enjoyed this method of plying, especially when compared to triple-plying with three seperate skeins of yarn; trying to keep every single seperate and unknotted really stressed me out. While this skein is a little over-twisted, it is still quite soft and the overtwist really isn't a big deal. The thing that really gets me is the way all the colors were distributed after plying. I originally did not like the way the singles were spinning up when I pulled out the various colors and spun them seperate. So I switched to just spinning up a piece of the fiber, letting the colors do what they wanted. I think I've changed my mind again, the navajo plying would work best with the first method. I've started spinning with the first method again and hope to have another skein to show some time next week.

Also, I bought 2 lbs of black merino fleece from morehouse merino. I hope to see it in the mail soon!

Also, I've been really bad with Eye Candy Fridays, so here is a picture that I took at Rachel's new place. Such pretty blooms!

How I spent my evening

Knit, knit, knit, knit....... food and liquor.... knit, knit, knit....

12:25 Fezzy tries to tell me that I need to stop when I finally cast-off the damn thing for the second time and it's still an inch short....
12:35 I didn't listen to Fezzy
1:45 The damn thing is done and tomorrow is busy day so I might not get to do as much work as I might like to.... I need to learn up on how to do seaming so that it looks good and then I have to do it as well as add a collar to 'finish' the cardigan.

Feeling Better

Today I went and picked up the pictures that Michael and I took right after we got engaged. I didn't plan it that way but the photo place was advertising a really good deal so I signed up. Here's the two poses that I picked, I think we look quite cute together! This sure perked me up a bit.
So, while I had my camera out I went ahead and took pictures of other things. The yarn that I bought.. It's a cone of linen/cotton/rayon that I bought for $11 at Shuttles as opposed to buying the yarn the pattern suggests for $90 at the store where I bought it.
To use for this pattern in the magazine that I bought...

As well as the progress that I've made since learning that I used the wrong size needles to finish the last piece of my cardigan. (You'll notice that I remembered to switch to the red needles.)
I'm REALLY hoping to finish it for real tonight or tomorrow and move on to another project. This new yarn, while strikingly similar to what I'm already working with, is teasing me by peaking out of the yarn basket where I have banished it to while I'm finishing this darned cardigan.

Tada!!

It's done!
But wait... weren't those red when I finished the last piece?
Yes, they were...
Double check.... this is way too small.
Ugh, I'm having a really bad day. I didn't get the job that was perfect for me and that I interviewed for flawlessly. I bought a magazine and some yarn yesterday, it's gonna have to wait for a happier mood.

Progress..... if you want to call it that

Well, first things first. It's been raining ALL DAY!
My little seedlings love it, but they are not getting the brunt of the storm quite like the grass is.
I'm not too worried, that's the view from my second story apartment... the people below me however... They are sitting at the lowest point in the complex! And.... here come the big huge snow flakes!

I've been working on my cardigan quite diligently today.
I finished the button side of the front last night and cast on for the other side this morning, challenging myself to see how far I could get in one day. This is all I have to show.. I really think it's kind of pitiful!
And you know what could make it even worse? Maybe you could see it in the picture... What about now?
That's right the button band is on the wrong side! Oh the agony. I had even taken a small break to work on plying my variegated yarn. I finished the plying, skeined it, and set the twist all before realizing this horrible twist of fate.
I was clearly tempting the knitting goddesses when I realized that I was on the home stretch with my cardigan and thinking that I might be able to get this thing done by the end of the week. How frustrating. I think I might have to get started on some more spinning to relax me after this incident. I might also be going to a new yarn store tomorrow!

Weekend Update

Friday night Michael and I went to see Trace Bundy, he plays acoustic guitar (and quite well I might add). He and Michael know each other quite well for a fan and a musician and I think it is due to the fact that every concert we go to Michael finds something to talk to Trace about. It's cute really. This concert was a benefit for Justice for Children International. It was quite an eye opener but I'd had a long day so all I wanted to do was knit and listen to some nice music.
Good news! I finally looked up the correct decrease for the jaywalker pattern and was able to knit some more on the socks during the benefit. I've still got quite a ways to go but I think I'm getting ready for the heel flap here.
I got a little work done on the cardigan since I last posted, just a few more buttons worth. My mom and I have been a little excited about wedding planning so not a lot of knitting has gotten done.
A little seedling update. They've grown! As green things tend to do. I'm a little worried though, not all of the pots have sprouted. The lavender hasn't but that's to be expected because it is a bit more substantial than the flowers. The other pot is just some posies I think. I've been treating all the pots equally so why this one hasn't sprouted is beyond me.
I'm not sure if you can tell in this next picture but someone (or something) has been digging in my pot! That 'big' sprout has been uprooted and the shadow is covering a small divot in the soil. Also, some sprouts on the right side of the pot (out of the picture) were covered in loose soil. I think the culprit could be some rascally squirrels! I knew there was a reason I didn't like them!
Today I had an interview for an entry-level position with Array Biopharma. It was my first interview since I graduated from college and I really think that it went well! While the position itself does not interest me, the company does and this company would much rather promote from within than hire from without. Also, I think that I would feel better about a higher up position if I really knew what the underlings were doing. If you are interested you can go to the website for more info on the company. I met with 5 people: The boss and 2 superiors as well as 2 people that I'll be on a little more equal footing with. I really liked all but one guy and he is the GMP guy... the one who is paid to be anal and psychotic about all the products that leave the building, so I geuss that is to be expected. I sure would like this position since A) I haven't had any other interviews, B) I am interested in the company, and C) this position would allow me to work a little bit with the various groups in the company and see what should be my next step in the corporate world.

I also experimented a little with navajo plying and I'm really starting to get the hang of it. More in the next update.

Cute little sprouts!

A couple of my cute little seedlings sprouted over the weekend. I took this picture of them on Monday and they haven't changed much since.
Also, I finished both sleeves for the cardigan and have started adding buttons to one of the front panels.
I think I've forgotten to mention a couple of things on this blog. I have signed up for Anne's spinning club: The Wooly Wonka Fibers Spinning Club. Every couple of months Anne sends out 4 oz. of fiber along with directions on how to spin it up and a pattern that she wrote for the project. I think the first batch of fiber will be sent out around May 15 and Anne has told us that it will be rambouillet. I'm really excited for this because there will be a few non-wool fibers and I have yet to spin up anything but wool.

Today I plan to spin up some more of that variegated merino I bought a while back. I spun some on Tuesday night and realized that I'd forgotten how meditative it really is. I'm thinking I should really make more of an effort to spin at least 2 or 3 times a week. Also, I don't want this fiber to look like some extremely variegated yarn that was poorly matched or plied. I was thinking that it won't really look good plied with any other yarn, even an undied yarn. So I've decided to try my hand at navajo plying for this. First I have to finish up a good sized bobbin and then I'll post my efforts on the new plying technique.

Since I finished my shawl my fingers have been itching to get started on a new, more challenging project (the stockinette cardigan is pretty hum drum). Jenna's lace hoodie really moved me, so I think that will be my next large project. I just have to track down the pattern. I'm pretty sure that it's only in the Rebecca magazine, issue number 32. Well issue 33 is out now so I would have to special order it from most places.

Also, I've really been craving some sock knitting but my jaywalkers are so dark and heavy.
I want to work with some more spring-y colors. I have some cute green sock weight yarn that I bought from knitpicks quite some time ago.
Also, Val knitted up some cute little summery socks by simply ommiting the cuff and she said you could knit two socks from one skein! I haven't picked out a pattern yet but I'm thinking something kinda lace-y and free... maybe from knitty.com?

General Update-iness

Ok, first things first, I'm going to explain the series of images posted a few weeks ago. You should briefly go and look at the pictures again because I think I lost them in my computer! I'll wait...

Ok, the first four pictures are a dye day that Val and I did with Stacy from Adoreknits. Her son is just the cutest!!
And her stash is just the biggest!! Holy moly! This isn't even all of it, and those big plastic bags in the back are full of fiber. Her stash is so big her son could dive into it and make yarn angels if he wanted. (He did dive, but there was a lot of fuss about this before he was able to successfully wreak havoc.)
The last pictures posted of the yarn are from when it was still drying, here are some images of the finished, skeined product.
These blue-ish skeins were my first few attempts at spinning and aren't perfect but Michael really likes the color so I'm thinking of knitting some simple socks from them.
With these red skeins I was trying to match the ones on the left to the ones on the right. The right side was stuff that was dyed and given to us during spinning class and I liked the color so I wanted to knit something from the yarn but there wasn't enough. As you can see, the colors really aren't anywhere near the same. The original yarn has some orange and brown in it while the new stuff is a deep, variegated red. I love it all. I'm thinking that I will save these to use in a hand-spun, dyed and knit afghan. I will continue to spin up un-dyed yarn and dye it various shades of red or brown and then knit up a rustic look afghan for my living room!
This stuff is a silk, merino blend that I bought off of a cone from Val and dyed that same day. As you can see it turned out a nice variegated sea-foam color! I'm going to knit a triangular shawl from Vintage knits with this gorgeous stuff.

The fifth picture is the finished back of my 3/4 sleeve cardigan. There has been some pretty good progress on that project too! What you see here is a finished sleeve and the cuff of the second sleeve. I'm probably going to need to pick up some buttons over the weekend before I can get started on the front panels. Any advice on how many buttons would be 'normal'?
The ball of mixed color merino is exactly that. I think it looks quite pretty in the picture and it's great in real life too. I'm just a little uncertain about how to spin it up! I first started by splitting off the various color segments and trying to spin them seperately to get a striping effect. That was HIDEOUS and I forgot to take a picture of it before I covered it up with some better stuff. This picture is with me just pulling off a chunk of fiber, pre-drafting it and then spinning it. It's quite difficult to picture and to see the details here but it's much better than my first attempts.
The last picture is, of course, the Yarn Harlot's most recent book. Well I've finished it by now and I must say that I loved it!! I loved her writing and the way it was presented with the interesting pictures. I also really enjoyed the 'letters' between various people that are spread throughout the book.
Now, on to some new stuff. Today is quite rainy and unfriendly. So, to cheer myself up a bit I went to Home Depot and bought some flower pots, seeds, soil, and plant food. I layed out some garbage bags and planted my seeds in the house.
In about 10 days I should start seeing some green shoots coming up through the dirt! For now I have to keep them inside because we are supposed to get even more snow and frost this weekend. BOO! Here you can see the seeds that I planted, I hope that I can actually grow the plants this summer!
Oh, and this man:
asked me to marry him!