Wednesday, April 04, 2007

FOs, WIPs, WPI and toddler drawings :D

Howdy :) Aren't we just a bunch of acronym-lovers *giggle*

Haven't posted in awhile, other than yarn porn, so I thought I'd share what I've been up to lately :)

I have one finished item, a lace dishcloth made out of some King Tut electric blue cotton I was gifted. It's not blocked yet, but it is still pretty :D It's not for anything or anyone...the yarn just scremed out to me to be a lace dishcloth, so who was I not to obey?


I currently have three different projects I'm working on in my VERY limited knitting time.

My never-ending brown blob. When I very first cast on, it was going to be a shrug. But it quickly turned into a lap blanket, because I cast on too many stitches and didn't have enough of the brown yarn I wanted to make the shrug out of, lol. It's sooooooooooo soooooooooooooooooooo soft and warm and I can't wait till it's done and I can plop it on my lap when it's a bit chilly at night :D

Incidentally, I'm sure there is a way not to get that line of one yarn mixed up in the new yarn chunk...but I don't know how... (illustrated on teh picture with an arrow). Does anyone have a link to tell me how to avoid that in the future?


What the HECK is that, I bet you're wondering...lol. Well, it's another brown blob. It's short row practice using some of my handspun that's a bit too thick and a bit too scratchy for anything else. It will be a rat stuffed with catnip for my partner's cats when it's done :D It's so much fun knitting with my own yarn! I definately didn't put enough twist in the ply, I can see that by knitting it...and I'm finding it has...dandruff...when I knit with it. What's that from? Little crinkly brown bits fall off in a pile on my lap as I knit. It's odd. Reminds me of over-processed crunchy human hair. Is it a sympton of the fiber or my spinning, do you think?



Finally.....the sock. ARGH! Why are socks so damn hard for me? This is the first time I've been stymied by something in knitting and it pisses me off. A new friend *waves at Lori* sent me a really detailed sock pattern, so I should be better with my next one!

At least my stitches are REALLY neat and even....huh *proud even stitch smile* It's some Knit Picks yarn...alpaca and wool and maybe some silk in there? I can't remember offhand which yarn it is...but it is scrumptious :D


This is after about 10 attempts to cast on and having to rip out after two rows. I switched up in needle and yarn sizes and did a regular increase toe, rather than a short row toe that was just haunting me. I mysteriously got two holes in the beginning, after my magic cast on for the toe. Then, at some point, I obviously put my knitting down and when I came back, I started knitting the other way around...because my very tippy toe is opposite purl/knit from the rest of the sock. Rather than rip it out, I decided I liked the look of a defined toe area and I'm just learning anyway, so I just plugged on.

My foot is larger than the pattern I'm using, so I just kept increasing on the toe until it fit over my toe area. Then, I started knitting the body of the sock. Um. Guess I increased a bit too much, LOL. The black outline is my foot inside the massively too wide sock :D It's sort of like my sock has wings :D


I'm gonna keep persevering on this one, though, until I get to the heel...so I can practice a heel before I rip it all out and start over with a sock that actually might FIT and not have quite so many mistakes :)

Hey, it's handy for holding the yarn while I'm not knitting on it, at least :D


Well, there you have it :) What has been occupying my time of late on the needles. There are so many things that I want to make next, I am stymied by the decision!

I also wanted to share some fiber yumminess I have going on in my home :)

Here's some of my latest spinning...brown sheep mill ends dark brown wool that I've been spinning up like mad. I have over a pound of the stuff, lol. I've been spoiled by alpaca, however, and it just seems rough and hard in the singles. Ah well :) I'm still gonna spin and ply it :)

I do looooovveeee spinning on the wheel, though *happy dance*



Speaking of alpaca....

my fantabulous spin to knit downstream swap pal *waves again at Lori *giggle* * sent me a super duper surprise package the other day! She wanted to thank me for the yarn I sent her, so she went to a local alpaca farm and got some fiber for me :) She told me the name of the alpaca it came from....Gertrude, I think? Something like that, I can't remember right now...and I just can't WAIT to spin it up :) It's washed and vm-free, but it's just loose in the bag, not carded. I've never spun like that, so I'm excited to try it out...and I mean, heck. It's alpaca, how can it not come out deliciously?



Since I cleaned up and organized and re-decorated my bedroom over the weekend, I decided to get new curtains. Oh gosh, I LOVE the ones I ended up buying...they make such a difference in the done-ness of the room. I feel like a grown-up with a real bedroom...not just a renter with some thrown together space I sleep in :D

It's good to feel like a grown-up sometimes :D :D



I know, I know...I still have to iron them...but I wanted to put them up and make sure I like them before I ironed them because I HATE ironing....so, that will happen this weekend :D

I also wanted to share a drawing my little tater tot did last night :) It's him and me outside in the sun with a blue sky :) It was a surprise present for me! I just LOVE my puffy hair and long legs, lol. He may not be a Picasso, but nothing like a litle kid drawing to make this mommy's heart go all mushy *swoon*



Okay, I think I've overwhelmed you all enough for now :)

1 comment:

  1. Anonymous9:24 PM

    that picture your son drew is just too precious!

    have a nice week - look out for some mail!!!!

    ReplyDelete