Two weeks in a row?

Yes, another WiP post! Still Ishbel, but this time... I've started the lace!



I've got a portable project going, too - another Triangular Shawl by Doris Chan - but no pics of that yet. Yeah, I forgot to bring it out when I took the Ishbel pic at sunset, and I'm too lazy to do it now. But I have gotten people talking about crochet because they see me working on it in public. At my orthodontist, one of the technicians asked me to show her what I was doing because she crochets but can only keep track of simple stitch patterns. Now she and the receptionist want lessons!

Also, the Raven Shawl color sequence is all figured out. I'm going to wait til I'm finished with Ishbel before I start the Raven Shawl, though. There's a great story there, though. See, when I was winding off all my Raven Clan skeins, I found that some of them had more knots than I'm accustomed to seeing. A couple of them had two knots each and lots of slubs, which seemed odd, and one skein had four knots and slubs all through it. So, encouraged by Pam and Cristi, I went ahead and emailed Blue Moon. The next day, they had written me back apologizing and promising that new skeins of those three colors would be shipped to me by the end of the week! Awesome customer service. I'm very impressed. They're not even asking me to return the knotty skeins! So now I'm trying to think of little projects to use them in... :)

Well, that's all for now. Vacation this weekend, and I'll get to hit up Knitting Sisters. Woooo!

WIP: My Name is Ishbel...

Ahoy there!

Doesn't it look like a sail, there, hanging on the needles like that?

Yes, I'm working on Ishbel. It's way fun. I know, I'm only in the stockinette part, but something about it is reminding me of why I like to knit. The yarn I'm using is Blue Heron Rayon Metallic, in the Chesapeake colorway, which is making me realize that Ishbel sounds reasonably like Ishmael, which is appropriately nautical for this colorway.

The yarn choice was inspired by Pam's Ishbel and by the fact that the vine lace pattern looks to me like choppy waves. Just like on the Bay. So it was finally the perfect project for my one treasured skein of Blue Heron Rayon Metallic. I can't WAIT to finish and wear this :)

P.S. The awesome yarn bowl and lovely needles were birthday presents from the fabulous Pam. Thanks Pammi!

Mmm... tea....

I have an active WiP!!! Can you believe it??? I'm crocheting again! Woooo!

Oh... you wanted to see it? Hm. Okay, I guess I can show you. ;)




I know it doesn't look like much now, but it's slowly becoming Sweet Tea from Doris Chan's Everyday Crochet. I'm really liking the pattern. Easy enough that I can watch Doctor Who while working, interesting enough that I'm not getting bored. It's a win-win project, I tell ya. It is, in fact, fantastic. :)

And besides, its name involves tea. Seriously. Can it be more perfect? I submit that it cannot.

Cracking the WiP

zOMG! A blog! I knew I had one of these things around here somewhere!

For real though, I have an excuse for not posting. I've been a little busy. I've so far seen Prince Caspian 3 times (if you haven't seen it yet, what are you doing here? Go! Get thee to the cinema!), Indy once, visited Williamsburg with my mom, been increasing my WiP pool, been spinning more than previously (yayz!), and have been cultivating my new obsession with which I've been surely driving my friends and family completely insane. And as usual, I am planning on blogging more often. *snort*

Anyway, I've got fun Narnia-related stuff to show you, but since it's Wednesday, perhaps instead you'd like to see those aforementioned WiPs? Well how about...

A crocheted sock?


Kureyon Sock. Not the softest ever, but just gaze for a while at those glorious Noro colors...


P.S. That is only about 3 hours of crochet, give or take a few minutes. Now you understand what there is to love about being a hooker.


The Knitting Sisters beret. Could not resist this pattern. Yes, it's Kureyon; I can't help myself. This skein seems remarkably soft, though. Same color as the socks:



And the WiP that I started before either of those. I'm knitting Askew from Knitty. But not in Noro. Aha! A non-Noro WiP! Anywho, what I am knitting it in is Tess' Microfiber Ribbon. Yes, I am aware that it is not the same gauge as Silk Garden, and I should've reconsidered my yarn choice and gone with something that's the same gauge. But where's the fun in that? I redid the math. And it came out to me knitting the numbers for the size XL. Ironic? I think we would call it that, yes. But once you see these pics you will know why I had to do this.



See?


Is it not remarkable? Is it not gorgeous?
It's become my Robin Hood knitting, despite brief forays into the above Noro projects. I feel it is appropriate knitting for Robin Hood, it being green and kinda evocative of some of the costuming themes of the show.

Well there you have it. My WiP Wednesday post, and it's still Wednesday! Go me! Now I'm off to debate whether to start spinning, work on one of my current WiPs, or start a new one I have planned...

Red Woolen Muffler

It's spring and the days are not only getting longer, they're getting warmer too. But that's no reason to stop working on this:



It's my Tumnus Scarf, version 2.1. Version 2.0 was a gift for a very dear friend, but this is the same stitch pattern, with the addition of two stitches of garter stitch at each edge. Dunno if that'll help the tendency to roll at all, but there it is. If you recall, I'm working this one in the real thing, the yarn from Stansborough Fibres :) I've had some difficulty settling on a needle size, which is why I have so little done right now, but I've finally found a satisfactory size, so I'm going with it. Should be a quick knit. I gotta keep with it though, because my new deadline for it is May 16. Why May 16, you ask? Scroll up. Yes. I have to wear it to opening day. I know Tumnus isn't in Prince Caspian, but still. It's Narnian anyway. Yes, I am aware that this is an illness. But I can think of worse things than Narnia-itis.

Unseasonable

No progress on the Tribe scarf this week. But there is one WiP that I've been keeping from you. I started it in the Fall, but haven't been working on it at all since the show. So last week I picked it back up, so here we go: my first sock!



Started with a short-row toe. I'm alternating three stitches knit, three stitches in seed stitch across the arch. Once I get to the leg of the sock, it'll be that pattern all the way around.



The yarn is Mountain Colors Bearfoot in Gold Rush. For the toe, I double stranded it with Red Willow. I'll be doing the same for the heel. I love these colors, cos they're perfect Fall colors. These socks are mostly going to be worn in the Fall. But that means I need to work on them now and finish them before Fall. A little bit out of season, but that's okay.

Now if you'll pardon me, I have to go beat up my wireless network.

It's a Kind of Magic...

*snap, snap*

Tonight I learned how to do the Magic Loop! w00ties! I rather like it. About as much as I like using two circulars. And way better than I like using dpns. So yay, I have a new way to make round things!

Also, I have progress to show on the Tribe Pride Scarf:


What? Draped over a candle? Oh noes! Oh wait, it's LED :)

Details:




I realized today that it's the same lace pattern that's in the Hemp for Knitting fingerless mitts pattern that my mom made for me. Same pattern. Didn't recognize it until I wore the mitts today and saw my hand on the steering wheel. Duh.

That's really it for this WiP Wednesday. Wow, just under the wire. Go me! I'll post an FO tomorrow. Stay tuned!

Zombie-head!

That's what I kinda feel like. I started the week -- no wait, day -- out with a minor cold. A low-grade cold that was barely a cold at all. By the time I got home from my sweltering, semi-tropical office, I was feeling definitely infected. And as the evening has gone on, I've gotten progressively more zombie-like. Grr.

In my stuffy-headed state, I did manage to not only get some real work done but also take WiP pics! Oh yes, my friends. I am actually posting WiPs. Go me!

First, the ever-present Razor Cami. In the car this weekend, I kept screwing up the front. So I had to keep ripping it back. I finally got tired of it and left it screwed up until today, when I finally frogged the same damn rows for the gazillionth time, and now it looks like this:



Notice the heap of yarn? Gotta knit that back up.

And then the New Design. No, it's not finished yet. Haven't been working on it. Much. But it's progressed since the last time you saw it, so here:



Exciting, no?

I'd post more (there's so much I want to post about!) but instead I am taking my hopped-up-on-nyquil self to bed. As soon as I stop sniffling to death.

Combination Thursday

I suck at this game. Haven't posted in over a week again. Lame... I'll just have to combine yesterday's WiP post and tomorrow's Yarn Pr0n.

Anywho, I've got new stuff going on. Got a new design in the works, which I've got pics of in progress, and I've got a gig doing costumes for Ragtime. A little intimidating. And by "a little" I mean "a lot." Granted, I won't be building the costumes myself, we're going to be renting them. But still. That's a big show to manage. *gulp*

Meanwhile, I've still got the Razor Cami on the needles.


But look!

Ten inches done!!!

And, as I said, I've got a new design in the works. It's a shawl. I'm hoping it's gonnna turn out the way I've planned.


And the yarn pr0n? It's the yarn I'm using for my new design! Mountain Colors Half-Crepe, in the Eureka colorway.





Yum, right?

By the way, is it Fall yet? I love Summer, but I'm very ready for Fall to be here. I'm getting psyched about Halloween. It's putting me in quite the Gothic mood. And this, from the new issue of Somerset Studio, made me gleefully Gothic. It's from the article "Model Behavior" by Michelle Ward (apologies for the crappy photos).

Who's that dapper gentleman on stage left?


Why, I do believe it's Ville Valo! *squee* Only, ya know, one of my ALL TIME favorite singers, from one of my ALL TIME favorite bands. Perhaps even #1 for me, though that's tough what with Blackmore's Night, David Bowie, The Beatles, and The Monkees around. Yes, I'm weird. But yeah, I've been flipping through The Victorian Trading Co. catalog repeatedly, looking at all their Halloween stuff, not to mention their usual merchandise. Gaaahhh! Is it Halloween time yet??? No, no... I can be patient... I can wait... Really...

The other thing that Fall brings is the Renaissance Festival. Oh yes. Can't wait to go! It's open, but this is me not braving the heat to go to the RenFest. I'll go, yes, but not yet. Also an opportunity for Gothic fun, by the way. Just a slightly different kind of Gothic. Whee!

I also need to order some superwash wool in navy blue and in gold. Football season is starting soon, there's a lot of gear I need to make for tailgates!

Gaaahhh, so much to do, so little time! EEEEP!!!

WiPitty Do-dah...

Okay, lame, I know. Anywho, I've got a picture of my Razor Cami so far, on me! w00t! It's starting to look vaguely wearable. Thanks to my mom for snapping the picture.




Of course, after I got it back on the needles, I realized I had to un-knit a whole row, because I'd forgotten the last yarn over of the previous row. That was a bummer. But it's not a big deal to re-knit that row, so oh well.

BTW, I'm modifying the pattern ever so slightly. See, the finished size of the thing is actually two inches bigger around than my waist, and I wanted it to be a little more fitted than that, so after about 4 inches I've switched to needles one size smaller, and I'll knit 4 1/2 more inches on those smaller needles before switching back to the original gauge. Hopefully that'll bring it in just a smidge. According to the gauge swatch I did it will, but who knows what'll happen once it's all done. We'll see.

Tomorrow night, tune in as Joyce and I learn chainmaille basics!

Hole in My Life

*cue The Police* There's a hole... in my life...
Or at least in my knitting. There are lots of holes in my knitting. But they're supposed to be there.



That's the closeup of my Razor Cami, from ohmystars.net (I linked to the pattern in an earlier post...) Here's a (sadly, blurry) overall shot:



See that flamingo stitch marker? That's from Pam :D She got those for me, simply because she's awesome. And she knows I love flamingoes :D 'MINGO!!!!! See? They make me happy.

So this camisole is taking its time but it's coming along. I can't say I've been working on it constantly, though I did even work on it a little in the car on the way to The Police. Not working on it today, though. My arm, wrist, and hand hurt, and I think it's from work. Stacks and stacks of paper are heavy, especially when you're holding them up so as to count them. Ah well. It just needs some rest.

That's all I have to report on this WiP Wednesday. A single knitting WiP, the awesomeness of Pam, and a hurty arm. And a pathetic Police tie-in. Hey, come on, you know I had to get them in here somehow...

Stars and Stripes Forever

Happy Fourth of July! I love this holiday, because it's the perfect reason to enjoy summer. Celebrate our freedom by having parties and barbecues and fireworks? Of course! Because we can! That's the point! It's awesome. (To be fair, I do also try to keep in mind why we can. Also the point of the holiday.) After all, freedom is the right of all sentient beings. (Points if you get that reference...)

But today is also WiP Wednesday, and since I missed Handspun Monday, I'm gonna get this one. Late, I know, but hey. I've been busy. We've had people here. Including small ones. Adorable small ones. Even my man found them adorable. But now that all our friends have gone home, I've taken pictures of my slow progress on the blanket for the newest small one. No stars, just stripes...



And by the way, we brought the important small one upstairs with her mommy to see the awesome painting job that her daddy did in our yarn room, and of course she was fascinated with Merriweather. I'll make a spinner of that little girl, just you wait... muahahahahahaha!!!

And now, if my neighbors ever stop setting off fireworks, I'm going to sleep. G'night!