HaNdKrAfT

Miles and Miles of Stockinette....

So as of this morning, I have these stockinette projects on the needles:  1. Habu Textiles "Kusha Kusha Scarf" in Color 96.  2. The Sidewinder from Pick Up Sticks online in wonderful, fabulous Malabrigo;       3. Jane Origami Cardigan which was a special order and 4. Alpaca Shibori Scarf. Dudes, that is FOUR STOCKINETTE PROJECTS.  Right-o. A little excessive even for me.

As for other projects on the needles: I now have a Swallowtail Shawl, a Flower Basket Shawl and socks going right now.  This is what I remember off of the top of my head.  I feel like I am not getting anything done.  I suppose it is time to institute the Two-One project rule.  (as I do so well with these self imposed rules anyway...) the Two-One project rule is that I pick two projects to work on, and don't pick up another one until One of the Two is cast off.  I am going to do this.  Seriously.  Stop laughing.  I mean it.  YOU know who you are.

And with the exception of the special order yarns I am waiting to arrive (or purchase) there will be no yarn pur-chases until I get some stuff done.  Why?  Have you ever seen a Ziploc Big bag?  The XXL size is 2 feet wide x 2.7 feet tall.  Now have you ever seen one full of sweaters packs?    Seriously there is enough yarn in there to make _ sweaters.  Really.  And that is not all of the stash.   See why I am on a yarn diet for a while?

Finished Object(s) and no pictures...

So I finished my sweater on Saturday while I was at Knitwitz, and got a fab abalone button for the sweater there.  And as I went to post the pictures of the sweater, I realized that my card reader is at work, and I won't be able to get it until Tuesday. I have posted the picture in the Travel Travesty Post below for everyone who is curious!

In the mean time, I feel like I have been hit by a mack truck have been stuck in a meat locker have not been feeling well.  I have some sort of upper-gi, cold-flu-allergy thing.  Chills and body aches oh my.  All that I felt up to doing yesterday was to lay down.  Consequently, I turned the heel on my second Jitterbug Jay sock, and started a crochet basket out of this linen cotton blend yarn that I had. 

And oh, I am done with the crochet bowl part of this project.  I now need to get fabric, and sew it to make the top part of the bag.  I want to do several of these, and will ultimately put them up for sale in my etsy shop.  Pictures coming tomorrow!

"Travel Travesty Sweater"

I loved the look of this swingy cardigan, and thought that it would be a great little project. A Twinkle sweater in actual real people sizes, on 13s? Get me the 13s then. I had considered using Twinkle’s new Cruise yarn for the sweater, but then I realized that it required 13 balls of the yarn (held 4 together) and the yarn cost $13 a ball for 126 yards. Most of you know I have no problem spending serious $$ on yarn. After all, I buy Malabrigo by the bag. Spending $169 for a short sleeve, cropped cardigan? I don’t think so.

So stash surfing I went. I rejected the Malabrigo out of hand (summer here already people) and settled on the Misti Alpaca Pima Cotton and Silk I purchased for another sweater. As the Misti is a worsted weight yarn, I only had to hold 2 strands together instead of 4 to get gauge. And thus, I cast on for the sweater last week on Wednesday night.

Thursday, you see, I was flying out to Seattle for a second round of job interviews. With 8 hours of travel time I was going to get some serious inches done. Little did I know that my knitting time on Thursday was going to be much longer than I thought.

You see, my 6 am departure time on Thursday did not go as planned. Between oversleeping and equipment problems, I ended up leaving later and taking more flights than I thought I would. Suffice it to say that 8 hours of knitting time became 11 hours of knitting time, and when I got off of the plane in Seattle, I had finished the entire body of the sweater, and had cast on for the first sleeve.

I saved the remainder of the project for the flight home, and finished the first sleeve and the front edgings on both sides. Of course, I was meant to finish the knitting on the trip, so I sat in the Airport parking lot finishing the last sleeve while I waited for St. Corina to come and give me a jump. My car battery had died, you see… and now all I have left to do on the sweater is to set the sleeve and do the neck edging, which is my project for tonight.

And once I am finished, we will call it the travesty travel cardi.

Finished Sock and more Randomness

So this is my first finished Jitterbug sock of the  "Jay" color way.  I have another Jitterbug sock going in the "Florentina" color way as well, but the airlines killed my bamboo needles on my last trip out to Seattle. 

I hope that I have enough left to finish the second sock. because wouldn't it be tragic to actually cast on for it, get going, and not have enough to finish?  That would totally suck.  Totally.

As for the randomness:

1. I like to take naps on my couch.  This is a good thing.  I keep a down throw folded on my couch for just such occasions.  Why is it then, that every time I spread out the throw, the tag on the throw ends up right under my face?  Every single time.  I know I could cut the tag off, but I never remember that the tag drives me nutty until it is time to take a nap... and then I don't want to get up!
2. I have recently been told that a new yarn line coming into my lys would not be something I would buy, because it is not a "luxury yarn."  Before I protested about being pegged like that, I took stock of my recent yarn purchases: Handmaiden Sea Silk (in copious amounts), Bollinca (35% silk, 65% cashmere), Alchemy Monarch (75% cashmere, 25% silk), Koigu, Socks that Rock, and oh wait.  The Pashmina.  The Joseph Galleier Pashmina. 100% Cashmere.  Righto. I am a luxury yarn buyer.
3. The Secret Bunny Society. You know who you are.  How Ironic that easter is right around the corner.  Lots of Bunnies in the stores, but also here; here, here, and here.  And then there is this fun fur bunny pocket pet pattern....
4. I drink too much Diet Coke.  Seriously.  I am on my third 20 oz bottle today.  Saving the bottle caps for a Shibori Scarf is not a proper excuse.  Really.