Knitty Kitty

Spring - a love/hate relationship

i love spring. i like the warmer weather, things blooming.

i hate spring. things blooming means i am miserable with allergies and sinus crap.

anyway -

sorry i didn't post recently. wasn't online over the weekend because i watched a lot of movies. (i can't watch ppv and connect to the web at the same time.)

saturday i got a lot of errands done, including buying fleece so next weekend i can make blankets for the critter knitters raffle. sunday i just watched movies, and crocheted a cat bed. it looked way too small so i added a few rows and now it's too big/floppy/etc. my cat pele seems to like it and she may insist on keeping it. (photo coming soon.) and i started on a rectangular crocheted one last night for donating.

our SnB is doing a trial run this week at a different location. we have been meeting at a coffee shop which has its good points (couches, good coffee, big place) and bad points (loud - live music, smoky even in NS section). we'll see if this new cafe is better, and we'll vote on where to hold the SnB. there is definately a lack of GOOD coffee shops around here which is very surprising. i just wish NJ would pass the same laws NYC did, which ban smoking in restaurants and bars. then - we could knit at the bar!!!!

Diving head first into the frog pond

so i've frogged before. back to a mistake, or a few inches of a project that never went anywhere. never anything serious.

until last night. i LOVE my yarn for the tori shawl but i hate the way it came out. part of that could be that i used the wrong size needles, so it was larger, and the holes in the "ladder" were catching on everything.

i think i'd like the shape and size if it was warm and cuddly, or no-frills. but wrapped around me, all that eyelash made me feel.... i guess as nicole put it - like a muppet.

so i am frogging it - actually rather than ball it, because i had tangle issues the first time, i am frogging as i pull the yarn to work it. i am making it about half the width it was before, and size 13 needles. (pattern: 15. first attempt: 17. i don't have 15 needles except denise, and i fear the yarn won't do well on the joints.)

i want it to be really long. i love really long scarves. even before joan of arcadia wore them. but they do look really good on her.

only this project is more about the final object than the process. making sure i pick up all three strands. not letting it tangle. unravelling 2 miles of ladders. but it will look awesome in the end.

mucho photo

sorry for the sudden deluge... but hey everyone loves pics right? i really hate pictures of myself especially since i am trying to lose weight... but i included some anyway....

from last week the big snow:

the chenille scarf on cartoon needles (size 35 US)

the yarn i got over the weekend:

and the shawl - but i read the wrong pattern when grabbing needles! it should be smaller gauge....

eh i'm too tired to rotate it tonight. just tilt your head.

my kitties:

and since i never post about my annoying birds:

tommy

tommy and taz

i finally let them face off against each other! (no animals harmed in the making of this picture...) (tommy is on the outside of the cage at the top of the photo)

the turkish stitch shawl

ok off to bed!

i'm on a mission....

so you know the whole story of the shoes. well one of my favorite pairs of shoes is my purple doc martens.

they also have sentimental value because my friend got them for me and sent them from london. i think they used to be a little big, but when i put them on last week thinking they'd still be fine - they are a little tight....

so i am on a quest to find them! and what is a quest without challenges?? they are discontinued. i emailed DM and they suggested some online retailers to try. i am searching for them - a few places have them but not in my size (UK 9). one site you have to submit a request to see if they have them in your size, so i have my fingers crossed.

i will be horribly dissappointed for ever and ever if i cannot find them. these may help ease the pain (they are availble in my size), but it will never subside.

if any of you just HAPPEN to be in a store or online where they sell dms - i need

style 1460Z (8 eyelet boots)
size UK 9 (US mens 10)
purple smooth (although i may settle for purple shimmer)

at this point since they are hard to come by, i will pay almost anything and be your best friend for life.

I'd rather be knitting....

just wanted to elaborate on the yarn i got this weekend. i took pics but haven't downloaded them yet - but i think this yarn won't be nearly as pretty as in person!

i renamed the project the "Tori Shawl" - my friend M who was with me said it reminded her of tori amos, or something i would wear to a tori concert. it is three yarns: a purple (wool?) that is varigated in thickness, a black thin glittery yarn, and a bright blue eyelash (which actually has one thread of metallic in it as well). it's really neat! the only problem knitting with it is sometimes i get too much excess of one yarn and either have to work it in or carry it to the end (does that make sense?) it also does NOT do well in a center pull ball and can tangle easily. i am on the second skein now and hope i don't run into that problem again!

the pattern she gave (well actually she gave a sheet with 4 scarf patterns, two have shawl variations) is simple. garter stitch- 35 stitches wide on size 17 - at the end drop every fourth stitch and unravel all down the length. she had samples in her booth and it looks really impressive with no real effort.

i want to schedule a shopping trip to NYC just for yarn stores. as soon as M (who is getting married in fall) decides what day we are dedicating to dress shopping in the next month, i will start the plans for this. i don't want to make it HUGE - but i hope nicole will go with me and maybe some other SNB folks.

there are several discussions on knitty and knitters review forums about yarn stores in NYC - but if you have any favorites please post them in the comments!!! and i will post here about the trip when a date is set.

later -

Yarn Find

yesterday i went to the morristown craft show - they usually have some really neat, unique, and sometimes really expensive things. i made my friend promise to not let me buy anything.

well about 6 booths in (out of 170) and i broke that promise!!! there was a booth with sweaters and yarn. yup i got yarn! from debbie miller

i definately have startitis. i love starting things. i finished my shawl on the size 35 needles - but unfortunately its more square than rectangular.... but i really would like it in another color anyway.

i started the turkish shawl like nicole was making - only much smaller. i have a cotton yarn that i had bought trying to get a swatch of the JS shawl that i liked but never did like any of it - works out well with size 8 needles and that pattern.

and i started the pattern that came with the yarn i got yesterday. its a simple shawl pattern - garter stitch, and at the end drop every fourth stitch and unravel for "ladders" (i do not know what the technical term is...)

but on the bright side - i got up at 9 and didn't go back to bed - and i have pretty much knitted and chilled all day! and got two loads of laundry done. that's a successful day in my book!

updates

ok - removed FO from projects listed with graph bars. updated WIP photo album. Will add photos and details at home this weekend.

friday five

If you...

1. ...owned a restaurant, what kind of food would you serve?
vegetarian.

2. ...owned a small store, what kind of merchandise would you sell?
crafty kitschy (sp?) stuff. very eclectic.

3. ...wrote a book, what genre would it be?
fiction. probably something with pagan or mystical themes

4. ...ran a school, what would you teach?
that often the history books are wrong ;o)

5. ...recorded an album, what kind of music would be on it?
bluesy-folksy stuff. inspired by tori amos.

big flakes, little snow.... NOT!

does anyone else know the saying "little flakes big snow, big flakes little snow"? not the case today. we have several inches, but some of the flakes are almost as big as quarters!!! i think if they were small, we'd have less inches and it'd be dense and wet - but half of it is air!

it's actually quite pretty, the roads aren't too bad, and it was easy to clear off the car because it's so airy and there's no ice. the trees are all white, although already a lot of it is falling off. i took some pics outside of my window this morning but i don't think i was able to capture the massive size of the flakes...

anyway - i started ANOTHER project - but its a quick one. at AC Moore the other day, i got lion brand needles in size 35! i heard some chatter online about these needles, and i have to agree with whoever said it was like cartoon knitting. it's quite a sight! i was anxious to see what these babies do - so i took some leftover yarn from diane's afghan and i'm doing a shawl. through 1.5 skeins already - it will probably take about 4 total. simple garter stitch! very airy. (see nicole i can google too!)

snb last night was a lot of fun. nicole and i have joked that we are virtual twins - we keep finding things we have in common. well her friend anne was sitting next to my friend kendra - and we were quite amused at their similarities! both are new knitters, and almost looked alike.... maybe they aren't really that similar, but it was just really humorous!

it was a lot of fun despite a room full of highschoolers who were there to see their teacher sing and play guitar. and i felt old when the teacher was my age and really cute. but i signed his mailing list just in case. ;o)

i'm hoping i don't have to go into NY tomorrow to shop with one of the fall brides. (i have 3 weddings in oct/nov., and i am a bridesmaid in 2 of them.) i want to knit and watch the snow/rain. (i heard it is supposed to rain tomorrow. ugh)

Albums

I created photo albums - nothing in the WIP yet. I need to fill out some details when I get home regarding yarn and needles used. The link is under the graph charts to the right.

can't wait for SnB tonight!