wips – Page 3 – Behind the Smile

February 5, 2010June 24, 2010

Wait, What?

Hello, February. I do not understand how you can blink, and thereby miss an entire month. What did I even do in January? Let’s see… I… worked? Got sick? Whined about working? Whined about getting sick?

Yeah, that about sums it up.

The other day I got an email from my webhosting company that I had been billed for the next two years. And I was like, wait, what? I’ve had my website for 2 years and I STILL haven’t put it up? And also that was $190 I wasn’t mentally prepared to pay quite yet? Aaaaah.

SO ANYWAY

I am randomly updating the blog so as to GET MY MONEY’S WORTH, holy moly.

Sunday I finished my Gathered Pullover that I mentioned in my previous post. It is awesome and fits great. I blocked it this week and since it’s been raining it took forever to dry, even though I put the fan on it to help. So: pictures of that soon!

At the beginning of the year I hit the 50% all the buttons at JoAnn’s sale, and I scored a bunch of buttons, and these are my favorites:

Extremely patriotic, heh. They might be for another Liesl. I haven’t really decided what I am going to do with my Ultra Alpaca that I got at Christmas. I might just do a short sleeved pullover though. I am feeling a strange urge to knit nothing but sweaters! I have to roll with this desire while it lasts because dudes, it has never happened before, and I do expect to go crazy with socks again. Buuut, not right now. :/

Here’s what I’m working on now:

Vaila from Twist Collective, in Berroco Vintage (blueberry colorway, I think), which I like a lot so far. We’ll see about how it holds up. It’s like 40% wool, 50% acrylic and 10% nylon. It seems like it will be a good hard wearing easy-care blend. I hope so. I like Wool-Ease, and this is a lot softer than that and comes in a lot of great colors. I’m actually about halfway down the body with six motifs completed. I want there to be at least eight before I start the ribbing, and there might be nine depending on how long the eight measure out to be. There will be about 4 inches of ribbing at the bottom, so I have to take that into account. Incidentally, the sweater is supposed to be knit from the bottom up, but I don’t like that way so I am knitting it top down with no turtleneck. I want this sweater to be finished before Stitches West. At least I already finished the Gathered Pullover.

It is now three months till I leave for the Chicago/Milwaukee trip. I am getting excited! It will be here before we know it! I think it’s pretty amazing that my grandparents will have been married for 65 years and also amazing that we are all heading out to the Milwaukee area to celebrate it. I think almost all the family is going to be there for it. (It helps that several of my cousins live out in the Midwest these days.)

(Incidentally, it is also exactly 5 months till I turn 30. Not that I am counting or anything. *ahem*)

Well, I think that is pretty much IT on this end. I have been really poor this week due to even more teeth appointments (phooey on braces and genetics, etc.!) and so I have literally been to two places besides work this week: the Lafayette Reservoir, which I have a yearly pre-paid card for, and Jason’s house, where I ate/mooched dinner. My aunt actually brought over the dinner and she made a delicious stew. This week I must be needing protein because I have just been CRAVING the delicious flesh of beasts. I ate an entire rotisserie chicken. And the stew meat was soooo goooood (like pot roast, but more stew-ish if that makes sense.)

I am sleepy, the end.

November 10, 2009June 24, 2010

What I’m Working On

I’ve inexplicably been compelled to knit a sweater, which honestly doesn’t happen that often. I don’t like purling that much, I really only like cardigans (in which purling is pretty much a must) and I just REALLY REALLY love making socks and shawls more than anything else!

So, EXHIBIT A that I’ve lost my mind a wee bit:

Is it not super pretty? I realize that I’ve already added the buttons, but that was to try it on. I still need to sew on 2 more but I don’t really need them. And I’ve knit another three or so inches on it since I took this picture last weekend. The inside is finished as well – I’m weaving in ends as I go. (Since this picture was taken I’ve finished the body of the sweater and started on the sleeves.)

It’s an extremely painless process, I am amazed to report. That Ysolda really knows how to write a pattern, and Liesl is no exception. The Vanna White yarn is nice to work with and seems to have a nice drape. Also, *ahem* only cost me $10.81 for four skeins, which will be the perfect amount. IN FACT, the yarn was the cheapest thing, the notions and the US 10.5 circular needles (a small circular for the sleeves and a large one for the body) will have cost about $16, hah – and I used a coupon at JoAnn’s for the larger needle.

I am enjoying the knitting and I do like sweaters, so I may make an attempt to make another one, but the construction would have to be interesting and not too purly (I’m thinking Manon from Norah Gaughan, maybe). On the other hand, I would also like to try a yoked sweater, so I dunno.

I must be out of my mind, wanting to knit sweaters. But I did go through my closet and pulled out a bunch of yarn for various projects. I apparently really like kelly green Vanna yarn because I counted fifteen (15!!!!1) skeins in the closet, so I would just like say WTF about that. And also: ugh.

Anyway, I also finished a pair of socks, like, a month ago. Six weeks ago even.

Another pair of Lacunae Socks from Anne Hanson/Knitspot. I really love this pattern. I think it might be my new “Monkey” or vanilla-type sock. Quick, easy, interesting and super comfortable.

Next time: I’ve been obsessively crocheting snowflakes for a Christmas themed decoration that I am planning on affixing to my ceiling. Good times at my house.

June 5, 2009June 24, 2010

Sockssss

It’s Design-Your-Own month at Ravelry’s Sock Knitters Anonymous group, and for the first time in months (February) I’ve been compelled to knit along with the group. Actually, I would have in May for the Anne Hanson KAL but I have been hit in the face at work, thankyouverymuch so I’ve been super busy.

Anyway, so I cracked open my Japanese stitch dictionaries and chose a really elaborate cable motif for some socks. I needed to invert it and convert to in-the-round stylin’, so it’s pretty involved. I also didn’t take into account the fact that because it’s basically all cables (1×1 and 2×2), the sock really tightens in on itself. Therefore, I had to add a bunch of stitches to make it fit!

And I had to choose a yarn that I thought would work. I first used some awesome Araucania Ranco Multy that is having a hard time finding the right pattern. And it looked awesome in the turquoisey-brown colorway, but alas, it was an original swatch over 68 stitches that was just too small! I’d also ripped out this yarn a couple of times, so I started to go fresh, and finally chose Dream in Color Smooshy in Flamingo Pie.

Yes, please, can I have some more?

Okay!

Yeah, it’s turning out pretty nicely. I’ve got some interesting design elements up my sleeve for the heel and toe, too. I hope I can figure everything out and keep track of what I’m doing because I hope to release the pattern eventually (if anyone wants to test knit it, that would be awesome) in three sizes. That’s the goal, anyway.

Here’s what else I’m working on:

Those are another pair of Hearts Afire socks (for Malvina, who expressed some love for the pattern) out of Shibui Sock, and a plain jane pair of stockinette socks out of some Cherry Tree Hill Supersock I had lying around. That yarn (in the Life’s a Beach) colorway, I had always intended to be a plain sock, but I’m not really motivated these days to knit a plain sock, even though they are nice to wear. But after all the last few socks that I’ve made (pretty much all the ones I’ve been working on this year) I needed a break – no ribbing, no pattern, no nothing. Now of course, I cast on for that ridiculously charted and complicated orange sock, but… whatevs. Heh.

I’m also working on an Ishbel shawl, but I apparently didn’t upload those pictures to Flickr. It’s out of Malabrigo sock in the terracotta (way orange) colorway. That Malabrigo sock is super fabulous. I don’t know how it will hold up for socks but it should work all right. I do have some plans for my other skeins in the stash, and since the shawl is knitting up so nicely, I could definitely see a couple more shawls in the future.

And, just for kicks, here is a pic of my current work space, that I finally more-or-less finished (I put up the cork board). It’s where I do all my jewelry stuff and computering (drawing/writing – I use my eee PC for internets).