Happy Halloween

What is up with me?? I'm so not a morning person and yet this morning as hubby was leaving for work at 6:40 am and came to kiss me goodbye I woke up and have been up ever since. At least there's a Ghost Hunters marathon on today. Plus of course there's coffee.

So, today is Halloween and while I don't get big into the celebration of this holiday I am going over to a friend's house to watch movies and hang out. It has apparently been decided that this is a costume event. I attempted yarn dreads but they didn't work out. I just don't think I was doing it right plus my hair is too short to easily do it I think

Other than playing with the yarn for that I haven't been doing much knitting. Hubby and I played Monopoly last night instead. We didn't finish the game, just left it on the table. I'm winning but that's not a good indication. I always lose at Monopoly. And I mean ALWAYS. As in, in the hundreds of times in my life I've played monopoly, I don't think I have EVER won.

Yeah, I suck. In other news. NaNoWriMo is about to start. Is anyone else doing it? I am although I'm nowhere near ready or planned or anything. Gonna try it anyway. I'm kalkette there as well if anyone would like to friend me.
Meanwhile, I'm off to figure out another costume idea. Stupid halloween and unplanned people.

It's Gonna Be an "Interesting" Day

Last night hubby and I didn't get to sleep until after midnight. We just get into that stay-up-late mode and can't get to sleep. Despite that, my eyes popped open at 5:00 am. Almost exactly at 5. Good grief. The last thing I wanted was to be up at that ungodly hour. Hubby got up at six and I bundled him off to work a couple of hours ago. (Despite what blogger says, it's almost 8:30 here not six something.)
I got up and came into the living room to the computer. I picked up my computer sock and found this:

You may not be able to see in this terrible picture but it's my Brittany needles. One of them is broken. I'm not thrilled with these needles anyway but honestly, I am very frustrated that one of them is now broken.
I've replaced it with a bamboo dpn and am continuing to knit away on these socks. This is the second of the pair and I'm starting to think they might be cursed. It is almost halloween after all. The first one took forever and as I was about ready to begin the toe decreases I realized that there was a dropped stitch at the heel. I don't know how it managed to stay in one place but something had to be done. After the sheer torture of knitting that ridiculously long foot (they're for my dad who has size 10 feet. Not so bad but much longer than my feet so it gets frustrating) I couldn't face ripping them back. I finally decided to just ladder it up, leaving a kind of tight row of stitches along the foot. I'm hoping it will block out. It was a traveling sock for awhile so I'm guessing that's how it ended up broken but it hasn't travelled anywhere for at least a couple of days so I don't know how it happened.
I'm so tired. I think I might go take a nap. Then I don't have to deal with the sock.

Still waiting for the lightning strike

So, yesterday I mentioned crochet and my head didn't explode. I wasn't struck dead by a bolt of lightning. Actually, nothing bad happened. Except of course, I'm obsessed.
Yeah, I started a little stash busting exercise of crocheting a dishcloth out of four strands of the tiny crochet thread you use for doilies. (I have a lot which is not entirely my fault.) It turned out really nice which got me to thinking about other color combinations. Yeah, I am doing a second dishcloth in the red and now I've started a gold and white one too.
Sheesh. At least I think I could use them as Christmas gifts so its not only stash-busting but also Christmas gifting.
They're way too boring to take pictures of. I'm also not posting them as projects on Ravelry. It's really not worth the effort. Maybe once they're done I'll take a picture of them all together to post here. We'll see.

As an added note to the other person who lives in this apartment:
No man was ever shot while doing the dishes and it wouldn't kill you to wipe up the crumbs you left everywhere either.

Tuesdays are for Crochet

So, since I do the open Crochet night at our local Crafts store on Tuesday nights I have determined that Tuesdays should be for Crochet.
I finished my epic project last week. The throw for my cousin so I had to start something new. Here it is:





Yeah, anyone else see the problem here?

After any kind of big project I usually need a little bit of a mental break before I can start something else.
I need to find a project today. I don't know where to begin.

Meanwhile, I knit socks on our trip up north and at least managed to finish one. Still a long way to go until Christmas knitting is done though.

killme. killme. killme.

This is what has been running through my head for the last several days. Kill me. Kill me. Kill me. Our friend Mike attended our October Birthdays gathering of friends last weekend. He had this nasty cold. Despite the fact that we stayed far away from him, I am definitely sick with a nasty terrible version of this same cold. (But I'm not bitter or anything). I am seriously considering sending him an email chastising him for exposing me to this nasty, horrible cold but I don't have the energy to type that. Plus that means opening a whole new web page. I don't have the strength.

I also suddenly realized how close we are coming to the deadline for the wedding throw. Yeah, the wedding is THIS Saturday. As in 72 hours from now. (How sad is it that my brain is so germ-addled that I had to ask hubby how many days 72 hours is to make sure that I had it right. I'm still not entirely sure that I am right about it being three days away but oh well.) So, yesterday, and the day before if you're keeping track, I bribed myself with a game. I downloaded this really addicting game onto my cell phone called Collapse Chaos. I want to do nothing but play it all day long. In order to make myself finish the throw, I told myself that I could play one level of the game every time I finished one round of the throw. It worked.

Here it is; preblocked.

It's been a pain in the arse and I am thoroughly sick of it but it's finally done and it will be a beautiful gift. It's spread out over my bed right now. I'm hoping it will be dry before I want to go to sleep. Since I kinda feel like going to sleep right now and it's still quite wet, I think it might be an issue.

Since I have been in deep, deep denial about the deadline for this project, I did manage to finish this:

It's a pair of socks for my mother for Christmas. They are knit out of SWTC's Tofuttsies. I think they turned out pretty well so I'm glad they are done and look good.

As another entire branch of my denial I also started this:

It's going to be a scarf. It's knit using the Yarn Harlot's One-Row Handspun Scarf pattern and it's knit of Patons Decor in Autumn Varg. I have two skeins and plan to just knit until I run out. I'm using size 6 needles which is smaller than I would normally have chosen but I didn't like the color repeats on size 8s and I have this nice wooden pair of 6s so there you go. (I'm not bitter about the fact that I was about a foot and a half into the pattern when I realized I didn't like the color repeats on 8s or anything. Not at all. No, never. Okay, maybe just a little bit.) I bought this yarn without thinking last year to knit felted clogs for my cousin. She really loves these autumn colors. Yeah, check the label before using dummy. They are not feltable. They aren't 100% wool. I even swatched and attempted felting to make sure it wouldn't work. It doesn't. So now it will be a scarf for her. The purple will match her coat and I think she'll love the colors so it should make a really nice Christmas gift for her.

I'm going to go drink some tea and blow my nose for the millionth time. Maybe by Saturday I won't want to be killed anymore.

Counting down

So, yesterday, at about 5:00 am when I was still freaking up because I couldn't sleep, I took a long, hard look at the calendar. Yeah, um, we are in trouble.

Disclaimer: If you are faint or have a heart condition look away. Do not read the following sentence!

As of today it is 74 days until Christmas.

Yes, that's right. 74 days. I feel sick.

To make myself feel better about my complete and utter lack of finished projects. Okay, I think I've finished 2. My list is pretty long though. I finished something.

This is the first sock of what will hopefully be a pair by Christmas. They are knit of Tofuttsies on size 2 needles and they are going to be for my mom.

My original plan was to knit the French Silk Sock Pattern from Knitting Vintage socks by Nancy Bush (too tired to link it.) I knit the cuff and then got into the leg pattern and decided the leg pattern is too intricate for the yarn which is kinda busy in itself so I just knit them plain after the cuff.

This picture is pretty accurate as far as colors go. My mom's favorite color is Fuschia and since these are a sort of Hot pink/fuschia I thought she'd like it. It actually varies a little too. If you look closely you can see that. The yarn goes from pink to deep burgundy to a very red red and back again, all while barberpoling with white. Pretty but I think the pattern would have been WAY too much.

Here's a close up of the cuff.

I don't know why it's kinda blurry.

The only downside? I find the yarn has a kind of weird smell. It's gotten better after I let it sit a bit but I think my hands smell funny after I knit with it. I'm not too worried because once they are washed I'm sure it won't be a big deal but for now I feel like I constantly need to wash my hands.

Oh well, they're worth it.

Am I Really That Versatile?

Okay, so I promised a little chat about Versatility.

When the new Knitty came out this month, as always, I looked through the sock patterns. Then I kinda clicked around on the other stuff too. I don't knit a lot of sweaters because they are big and if I want decent sweaters (which I do) I will have to spend a lot more on yarn. Not that I have a problem with that but it's not so much in the budgets right now. So, instead I knit socks in perpetuity. They require less yarn and are therefore cheaper to knit and provide endless hours of knitting entertainment.

Well, I happened to click on Versatility on the latest edition of Knitty. At first my thought was: What the HE11 is that?! Then I clicked away. But that image stuck in my head.

I would go do something else and *pop* there it would be, haunting my brain.

*pop* Hmm, Kinda like a stole. In bulky yarn though. I'm a bigger girl, I don't know if Bulky yarn is the way to go for me.

*pop* It could be a sweater style thing too though. Hmm, I could do that. It would change around. That would be nice.

*pop* A Shrug. I've been wanting to knit a shrug and this way, if I don't end up liking it as a shrug, I can wear it other ways and then I don't have a shrug that I won't wear.

*pop* Why don't I go and look up what size needles and how much yarn it takes.

*pop* Suddenly I find myself printing the pattern.

*pop* Then I'm searching for Yarn. Where do I go? Blue Moon Fiber Arts of course. I found something I liked: Icelandic in Valkyrie but I would need 2 skeins and at $30.00 apiece that would be $60. For something I wasn't sure about.

I took the pattern to my mom's to show her. She liked it too.

Then I went to the store with her. Just so she could drop off a roll of film. (Yeah, I know, she's old school.) I happened to wander into the craft section. That's where I found it.

Clearance Yarn.

Lion Brand Wool Ease Thick and Quick. In Charcoal Gray for...

$4.00/skein. That's right. Only $16.00 for the whole project.

The frugal knitter in me squealed with glee.

I managed to find 2 sets of 2 dyelots so I got four skeins in 2 dyelots so I'm alternating.

If I love the pattern as much as I **hope** I will, then I will probably still get the Blue Moon stuff and make another.

Meanwhile:

I did a gauge swatch immediately and cast it on moments later.

The pattern calls for size 10.5 needles. The yarn recommends 13s. I am using 11s. It's slightly wider but since I am "slightly wider" than the model in the pictures, I think that's okay.

This picture is more accurate color-wise. It's a really fast knit. I will probably make it a bit shorter than the pattern calls for as well because my wingspan is only about 64" and the pattern calls for 71. That would be kinda big.

Well, there it is, my new obsession. That I'm making myself stay away from. I have to finish that throw. Then, I will be able to knit obsessively on this.

The hive mind says:

Versatility, versatility, versatility.

Deadline Knitting

So, apparently I do well under pressure. I don't know why I let myself get under pressure but I definitely do. Case in point:

This is supposed to be a gift for my cousin. For her wedding coming up on the 25th of THIS month. Why I waited so long to start it I have no idea. I had the materials months ago. Now I'm finding that my original plan (which was to take a thread crochet doily pattern and crochet it with larger yarn and a bigger hook so it made a throw) isn't making it big enough so now I'm trying to figure out how to expand the pattern to make it bigger. Eep!

I also have about 7 pairs of socks going. I keep saying I should cut back so I can get some done but with Christmas coming up that just isn't happening. When I finally finish something, I immediately start something new.

I finished these lovely socks for my Mother-In-Law for Christmas.

Specs:

Yarn: 1 skein Alpaca Yarn Co Handpainted Sock Yarn

Needles: Size 2 needles.

The pattern: Waffle Socks, somewhat improvised because I couldn't find the pattern I wanted.

Finished Size: Ladies Size Medium

Notes: This picture does them absolutely no justice. The color is more of a warm reddish brown with some blue and grey.

Within 24 hours I cast on these:

Austermann Step Socks for my Father-in-Law for Christmas. They are the ones that have Aloe and Jojoba oil in them. I'm looking forward to it conditioning my hands and then my Father-in-Law can enjoy the conditioning of his feet. I just started these last Friday but I took them to the movies so I got a good bit done while watching Batman: The Dark Knight. Excellent movie but very say that Heath Ledger is now gone. But then again I live with a comic book geek guy so I can't really be unbiased.

Maybe tomorrow I will talk about my obsession with this.