I love lists!

As promised, a boring list of active WiPs. I might get fancy-pants and eventually do this on Ravelry, but I'm not holding my breath. Keep in mind, these are just projects that I'm actively working on. There are a bunch of things that have been benched for various and asundry reasons. These are in no particular order.

- Grey & Black sheep One-in-all - 6 mo size. One leg and one foot done. Mostly parked for the moment, as I'm doing a modified version and knitting the same thing in different colours at the same time would drive me insane.
- Multi-colour fish hat. Only the tail, fins and eyes are left. This is my WoW knitting, but I've not been playing much lately, so it's stagnated. Stagnant fish, eww.
- Crocheted baby duck blanket. This is about 1/3 done in terms of crochet, and needs all of the embroidery to be done. I occasionally poke at this due to my sister really wanting it for the nephew Smurf, but making the same blanket more than once is tedious business, even if it's been a couple of years.
- Seekrit modified version of the one-in-all and matching hat. The main portion is about 2/3 of the way done, and the hat basically has just been started. This is in the 6 mo size, and I've been informed the nephew is growing like a weed, so I need to pick this bastardly thing back up again and finish it off, or it'll never get done.
- Pink & blue chunky braid scarf. I think this is about 1/2 way done, as I've only got one skein, and when it's gone, I'm done.
- 1x1 rib stripe'y scarf that is normally done in Noro, but I'm an infidel and using something else that doesn't offend my "This is really expensive, but itchy" sensibilities. Hey, more for those of you who like Noro!
- Sproing'y socks in my hand-dyed green/blue/purple colourway. One is done, the other is just past the gusset. These are my most active knitting, as the pattern is stupidly easy to memorize.

Hey, that's only 7! As long as you don't look at my dyeing, spinning and weaving habits, that's almost reasonable! :)

Oh, hey, a blog!

A tragically neglected blog! Sorry about that.

There were a couple of weeks in ND that involved a bit of knitting (made a pair of socks for my dad, got a pair requested from my mother, worked on The Baby Project, and knit on another pair of socks that I'm still pokin' at), a bit of spindling, but mostly socialization and sickness. These things happen.

Once we got back, I had a couple of weeks of solid funk that didn't leave me terribly creative. That has now passed! Yay! The previously mentioned socks are around the heel, and slowly creeping down the foot. I went on a yarn crawl with HappyGoth yesterday that was a heckuva lot of fun. It was fabulous, especially since it followed directly on the heels of a Christmas Day spent drinking and fibre geeking with my lovely sister-in-law. Plots are in place for more visitation, as we always have a smashing time together. (And that goes for both of them; hooray for having friends to geek with!)

I've been back in front of my spinning wheel. Though my PT hasn't been fantastic, and has often left me exhausted and in a lot of pain for days on end, there is one excellent result: I can spin with both feet again. Woo-fuckin'-hoo! About damn time, I've been spinning with one foot for the last umpteen months, and that's just sub-optimal on a double treadle design.

I've also started dyeing fibre. A Lot. I ordered a ridiculous amount of fluff that should be arriving in a couple of days. As Darcy happens to have good connections, I'm also getting my hot little hands on a drum carder. My house continues to devolve into the Den 'o Fibre, and so long as Daven keeps being supportive (which he is, amazingly so. Love love love!), I'll keep on rolling along, embracing my crazy. :)

One thing that I need, however, is accountability. I tried this a while ago with Ravelry, and that got messed up when I moved. I'll try to get a running tally of projects updated in the very near future so that I can know what I've got on the needles already before casting on another forty Neat New Things. We'll see how that goes.

I'm crafting, honest!

Mental note: do not hit enter when in the Title, or it posts. Stupid interface.

Anyway!

I know I've been very quiet during my recovery time, with just the occasional jackass post from some horror that I've found on Ravelry. Fret not; I am also making with the creation process.

As HappyGoth found out for her birthday, I had evil plots involving neon coloured roving. Now that the gift has been delivered, I can make little happy noises. I admit, this didn't turn out quite as I wanted it to be; you can really tell the difference between the two bobbins in the colour changes, and it really fluffed out a lot when it was washed, but it's soft and petable, so I'll count it as a win. I've mostly spun very tightly thus far, I wanted to try something a little different. Of course, I'm a bit short-bus in that I decided to give that a go on some superwash, but with the amount of mohair in the blend, I couldn't resist letting it fluff a bit.

I'm currently spinning this, which I have plans for, if it works as intended.

Aside from the spinning (I only got back in front of the wheel yesterday), I've been knitting, of course.

My post-surgical knitting was an all-garter stitch extravaganza blanket wherein you change colours every row. It's a good way to use up a lot of crappy acrylic that I'll never use otherwise. It's also a fine project for those who are totally flying on Vicodin. Just sayin'. (Daven got to be amused at my tendency to fall asleep halfway through a row, and when I'd wake up, keep knitting like I'd not had a little nap. Drugs are fascinating.)

I started a onesie (Gah, is that right? Should that be "an"? That sounds horrid.) for the nephew, when my sister made the tactical error accepting "Smurfling" as a nickname for him. Ho ho! I'm totally re-knitting the onesie as a Smurf onesie instead, stopping at the neckline and knitting a seperate little hat. I just need to find/figure out a Smurf hat. I'm leaning towards using a Santa hat and making it more bloopy on the end and less pointed. It's pretty darn close.

I also have a knitting project dedicated entirely to working on when playing WoW, specifically during flights. (Alright, it's accompanied me to a couple of doctors visits, but not been worked on much there.) It's growing at an alarming rate, letting you know how much I've been playing WoW. What can I say; I'm a gimp, and when one's body fails you, you have to have some outlet for frustration. Killing murlocs fills that void. One can knit only so much.

Oh, and since I was terribly excited about the loom and then entirely silent about it afterwards, here's why: It got too easy. No, really. I was too efficient. So, after doing a length of straight weaving (albeit in stripes) long enough for a small rug, I blocked off some room for edging and started another rug. This one should be challenging enough, though I'm to the portion of the pattern where I only have 4 active shuttles instead of 5. Pish. I think it's turning out alright, for the first time I've ever done colour changes in weaving. Really, what it's all about is being pleased with your own work, and I am at this point. Yay for makin' stuff!

Aww.

More like Roadkill Dragon. (Again, non-ravelry users are SOL. It's sad, though.)

Dear gods.

Do want. DO WANT!

Wow. I'm going to have to buy that. And maybe the other similar shawl pattern she has. Just amazing!

This is normal, right?

I love my loom. I also love my husband for letting me turn our living room into a den of fibre.

We swapped out the leather cords for the new plastic coated metal ones yesterday (with a little bit of a learning curve, but we figured it out). The warp was what came on the loom when we bought it, and though it's old (I had one thread snap, but I was able to work it back in later), it's so damn freeing to be able to do whatever I want with it. This is a bit of sampler type work, though I've settled into a nice herringbone pattern that pleases me greatly. The basket of wool was from some friends who picked up a bunch of needlepoint wool and gave it to me. It was a bit too itchy to knit with, but it's perfect for weaving!

I know that I'll probably be griping later on about setting up the warp, but being able to just weave is such a gift. I'd forgotten how quickly it goes when you're just workin' away.

Glee!

*sigh*

So. Wierd. Friggin' knitters.

I feel like Father Christmas roughed me up.

I was spinning this. It's lovely, but I've never spun anything with angelina before. It sheds like a mad thing, and now I'm covered with glittery stuff. You know the icicle stuff that you use (or maybe used to use...I haven't done it in a while) when decorating a Christmas tree? This is like that, but with a hideous pervasiveness that I was unprepared for. I was even being a good little spinner and using my drop cloth. (IE, folded in half pillowcase.) And yet, it kind of exploded everywhere, like an elf...er...I'll refrain from my usual comparison, but I'm sure there must be a shot for that sort of thing.

I have a feeling that I'm going to be spinning random sparklies into my yarn for the foreseeable future. At least it's cheerful.

What in the everliving hell...

It is knitters who make things like this that give us all a bad name.

If you don't have a Ravelry account, you won't be able to see it. Be glad.

Clinging to the good is important when the bad gets overwhelming.

My new (to me) loom. Except for the fact the one in the link has 6 treadles, and mine only has 4, due to it being...er...38 years old. I'm replacing the cables for the harnesses, as one has broken (old leather cording), and I might as well bring them all up to spec. The folks we bought the loom from were snazzy as hell, dropping $50 from the buy price due to the broken cable and the lack of a crank. Daven has Plans for it, and until such a time as he has time to implement said plans, the website has this to say:

For the older looms where the shafts taper to a four sided point we recommend using vice grips or replacing your beams. We are sorry but that handle company went out of business years ago and the handles are no longer available.

Not a problem. We have vice grips.

The woman who owned the loom before me bought it before she became a mother (her children are all grown and out of the house, and they're looking at retirement), and was describing to me how they were living in KY. She had taken a weaving and natural dyeing class, and was inspired by the whole earth-mother deal. I couldn't help but grin, as her dreams of old sound terribly familiar.

Aside from the aforementioned bits that are getting replaced, the loom is in great shape. Some things, I wouldn't want an older model, but for something like this...if it's made it 38 years, it probably has quite a few more in it. :)

She kindly threw in the warping board for free, as well. Score!

I'm so looking forward to playing with my new toy. Just need the new bits to arrive!

It came with some warping on it, so I can skip that process to begin with. Yay!

SQUEE!!

I has loom.

Is nice loom.

Is $2000 loom for $400. Score!

Loom is 8 years older than me. Hee!

*happywiggles*

I apparently blame a lot of things on others.

Like my recent burning desire for a loom. I blame someone who will remain nameless but knows who she is. Don't you, Ms. Posts-pictures-of-herself-measuring-out-warp?

I've been trolling eBay like mad. There are a few prospects, though they each have their downsides. Like the floor loom for really cheap...but you have to pick it up from NJ. Nrgh. Or the one that's in McLean, but it's just a table loom. I think that might be reasonable to scratch the itch and see if I'm still as in love with the craft as I once was.

Anyone want to buy me a loom? Pretty please? It'll help me with my long-term fantasies! When I was 15, I took a weaving course for a semester at school. I fell in love with it and proceeded to tell everyone that I was going to run away to the Scottish Highlands and become a professional weaver. Enh. Got one of the two done, though I came back. Now I just need a loom.

Yes, I do have a lap loom, but...well. Let's just say that I find it unfulfilling to my desires, 'k? Want more harnesses than one! Rigid harness for the lose! And it is damn awkward to try to use. Oh, right, I wasn't going to say why I didn't love it. Well, that's not everything, but it is a reasonable starting point.

What has been seen cannot be unseen...

Or "Why math is not my friend".

The project that I'm working on expands. I thought I had to reach a certain number, but when I consulted with the pattern again, I found that I had misremembered, and needed to go quite a bit further along.

To be precise, I suddenly had (yes, I did the math, which was a mistake) about 13,000 more stitches ahead of me in my project than I had anticipated.

I should never pick up a calculator when it relates to number of stitches (for just one portion of a project!) again. It's too scary.

*sigh*

*tink tink tink*

Some mornings, things just don't go as planned. I've been trying to make that little pirate knit hat for my future nephew and I'm currently on the 4th or 5th iteration of it. It keeps turning out too small. (The internet says that a newborn's skull measures about 14" on average! Unless I want my nephew to be a conehead, I need to work on my gauge a bit.) Today I grabbed bigger needles and swore I'd get it right...except that now I'm burnt out on it, despite the added cuteness of the changed pattern I'm using. The original skull and crossbones hat is out, new cuteness is in! Or it would be, if I were knitting it. Instead, I decided to work on a larger project that I've been dragging around with me for a while. Easy-peasy project, just two colours that intersect at one point.

The problem is that I'm a little sleep deprived, and therefore not very bright. That means that when I got to the colour change, I cheerfully twisted the yarn like a good little knitter and then picked back up the first colour and knit half a row before I noticed. I even followed the pattern, I just didn't look and notice that it wasn't the right yarn. Sigh. I guess there's a downside to being able to knit and read.

I mean, work hard. And stuff. Yeah. *shifty eyes* Hi Ted!

As an aside, the badger sporran was finished on Saturday in time to go to a party and horrify people. I'll take pictures and post them later. SO CUTE!

ZOMG!

Ok, so this link won't work for non-Ravelry members, but you who have signed up for the joy will enjoy it. Daven has demanded that I make one...as a sporran for him. Awesome!

*twitch twitch*

So, if you recall the photo I posted a while ago of some red/orange/pink spinning I'd done...Well, I filled that bobbin up, and as I got my 4 new (unfinished, grumble, didn't think of that) bobbins, and the singles are very very scrawny, I decided to navajo ply 'em.

Thin. And evidently not spun tightly enough for easy navajo plying. *ply ply BREAK CUSS ply ply* repeat. I must say, though, that the finished product looks far nicer than I'd expected. I'd not played with navajo plying slow colour changes before, and it's turning out quite lovely, even if it aggravates the piss out of me.

Did I mention thin? This will take me just short of forever for a single bobbin, and I've still got a huge amount of roving to spin. I have a feeling that'll be more of a long-term project. It's still spinning up to something like a sport weight, possibly a bit heavier, but not much. It won't be soft enough to wear against my skin, but I think I should have enough for a cardigan or something of that variety.

Totally unrelated to spinning, but still involving yarn: I went to Michaels today because I had to buy some of this. I saw it a couple of weeks ago and kept thinking about it, so clearly had to possess some. I plan on making a really obnoxious baby hat out of the green and white for the nephew who will arrive right around Halloween. :)

Edit: I'm making the pirate hat in green and white. (In a newborn size, as yanked from another pattern, therefore there will only be three skulls.) Both of his parents already have pirate skullcaps, he clearly needs one!

Stuff! Also, Things! Well, mostly Things.

Thing one: I have decided Navajo plying is the spinning equivalent to turning the heel on a sock. Not terribly difficult once you get the hang of it, but it leaves you feeling terribly clever.

Thing two: Flick carding is fun. Cria fluff is static'y. Imagine trying to wrangle a particularly affectionate yet cantankerous cloud, and that's somewhat like trying to flick card this stuff.

Thing three: My fluff arrived! Or, at least the big order. I highly recommend these guys. The fibre is just To Die For. I need to get that 30lb bump now, please. Anyone got $400 laying about that they want to spend on fluff for me? *cute* In addition to the 100% Rambouillet (soo nice!), the silk/alpaca blend is just incredible. Again, very cloud like, and it just screams to be spun into laceweight. There was also a free sample (first hit's free!) of what I think is soysilk, though I'm not sure. The staple length is very uniform, but it's so soft and smooth...the little sample bit that I twisted between my fingers and let ply back on itself is thread. Just thread. Lovely lovely lovely.

Thing four: Uhh...There is no thing four. You get three things, and you'll like it!

Retail therapy, take me awaaaaaaaaaaay!

In this case, 4 more bobbins. My unfaithful-to-a-single-project nature requires more options to do single plies of random fibres before having to do another corresponding bobbin.

Just go with me on this one, ok?

(edit: Also, this. So pretty!)

Glub glub.

As Happygoth so cleverly suggested, in light of recent life events, I'm drowning my sorrows in roving. Though, I do admit I resisted buying this, and bought this (and this) instead, as it seemed like a more reasonable amount. However, the first may eventually be acquired, as I love the idea of that volume of fluff in the house. I blame Darcy, as after seeing her enormous volume of fluff, I've been having stash envy. Never you mind the piles I've got, I need more!

But such lovely and unblemished roving calls for the purchasing of dye. Mad scientist dye experiments, coming soon!

Evil, I tell you.

I don't think I mentioned one thing that Darcy taught me during our visit to southern VA. After years of stating that drop spindles were Bad and also Tricksy and possibly Evil (the internet can teach you a lot, but spinning ain't one of those things that is easily taught from text and photos, and I had a bad experience), she took me in hand and, well. She taught me how to actually use the damn things. Then the words "And you can do this in the airport, if you want a change from knitting!" fell from her mouth.

Surely you can see where this is going. If you guessed "Wendi was using a drop spindle in the airport on her way to C14", you'd be right. It also led to an amusing discussion in regards to the varying meanings of "spinning", especially when talking to a DJ. You can bet I'll be taking it with me to D*C, too. Because, yanno, sometimes it's nice to switch things up a little.

Another feature of the drop spindle is that if one has, say, a little chunk of left over roving that had no other plans for it, one can lose half an hour going *WHEE* *SPIN* *FEED FEED FEED* *SPIN* *WHEE!!*, repeat ad nauseum.

Clearly, portable spinning is Dangerous and Evil. (But really fun, of course, like all dangerous and evil things.)

My pretties, let me show them to you.

Once upon a time, I promised pictures. Well, I just uploaded a crapload of them to both my flickr and my multiply accounts. Multiply has finished objects (I'll be uploading more later tonight, too.) Flickr shows my works in progress as well as why it is so bloody hard to stay faithful to a single spinning project. Look at those options, and can you blame me?

Should have seen that one coming...

So, my project infidelity is not limited to knitting (or crochet).

I got some of the red/orange spun up and thought to myself "Damn is there a lot of freakin' roving in this colour. This will take forever. I want to try something else now!" On the upside, I've got four bobbins, so I can do this, to a certain degree.

Red/orange went back into the basket for later spinning and I grabbed the 60/40 mohair/wool blend that Colleen gave me for my birthday.

I swear, this stuff WANTS to be spun. It's incredibly addictive, despite the fact that mohair makes me a little itchy. Just the tender bits, like the bottom of my arm or face. Easily solved: I will not spin with my mouth. See? No issues! *grin*

I had to drag myself away from the wheel to have dinner, and I find I keep glancing over at it. Addicted? Me? Naaah.

Etsy has forced me to buy more fluff, as well. Two more fiery colourways (Wanna talk addiction? I'll soon be easy to spot, as I'll appear to be covered from head to toe in flaming knitwear.) and some obnoxious batts that I have a specific idea in mind for. We'll see how I do with it!

Busy busy; always busy.

This has been a crazy last couple of weeks.

Atlanta for a few days for work and socializin', followed by immediately scooting off to Blacksburg to visit Darcy (Daven's sister) and her hubby and her woofs. We spent a bunch of time knitting and spinning and generally fibre geeking in a most fantastic manner. It was lovely, and she gave me some great gifts, including a cria (that's baby alpaca for those not in the know) fleece that is still pretty darn raw. I'm bizarrely stoked about the concept of taking it from the raw format to a finished product.

As I had to get a niddy-noddy anyway, I went ahead and got a flick card and a new drive belt for my wheel. A snazzy rubbery one that means that the mother-of-all doesn't have to be waaaay over to keep the tension right. I know, I know, I lost the non-spinners. The part just below the top spinny bit that the yarn goes around, that allows tension adjustments. Just smile, nod and accept that it makes me happy, 'k? :)

Other crazy-ass purchase that arrived included my "A daily dose of fiber" tee from Ravelry (grey, not pink) and the ridiculously expensive shipping costs of a photo-copied lace pattern from Germany. Yes, it's in German. No, I can't read German. I'll figure it out.

Finished projects (at least in terms of knitting, not seaming up): the Baby Surprise Jacket and the garter stitch cardigan I'd gotten 3/4ths of the way done with on my drip to LA in May then put down. I suck at that. Both of these were in my "Next in line" basket, so I'm proud of myself for casting them off. The seaming will happen eventually.

I got a bit of sock knitting done (as evidenced here) in Tampa at Convergence 14. That was a fan-fucking-tastic time, and we had a blast hanging out with old friends (of mine) and making new ones (for us both). What, you don't go to goth conventions to knit? Slackers.

The knee is a bit better. I finally finished all of the purple yarn I'd been spinning for forever, ending up with 810y of 2 ply that I think flails about between lace weight and light sport weight. I'll do a WPI analysis and post it later. I'm just thrilled to be finished with that project! I immediately dove into the roving that I'd posted a while ago that I bought on etsy, and it's a totally different beastie from the colonial that the purple was. Much shorter staple, but less slippery. And with the fantastic new belt, I don't have to treadle like a hamster anymore. Yay!

I still have yet to find my camera cord, but a concerted effort will be made to rediscover it this weekend. I have pictures to share. Oh, yes; I do.

(Hey, HappyGoth? I believe you wanted to see Daven in the outfit he'd described on LJ? It's a crap photo, and I have better on my camera, but for the time being, here ya go.)

"This I can promise, Sammael, for every one of you that falls, two shall arise. "

Why am I quoting Hellboy? Well, it seems that for every project I finish (that one is even blocked! Ooo!), two are cast on.

The Seizure socks continue at a fairly good clip, and my friend Colleen commented yesterday when she saw them that I could make some really fantastic gloves out of a modified version of the pattern. I'll have to work on that. *evil plotting commences*

So, those of you who knit may have seen this most recent cast on project coming. I'll do the math for you:

1 obsession with knitting mitered squares + 1 pregnant sister = ...

If you guessed the Baby Surprise Jacket, you'd be right!

I recently picked up Elizabeth Zimmerman's "Knitting Workshop" because I kept seeing these damn things floating around the web and I figured that since everyone had raved about her mad skillz, I should totally check her out. I've been a little too distracted knitting to read the book yet (what I have read was good, albeit basic), but I'll bring it with me on the Atlanta trip for some learnin'.

As to why I cast on another project...well, I'm loving the socks so much that I want to extend the knit a little bit. They are really just joyous to work on and I'm going to be sad when I'm done with them. Also, this morning I sat down on my couch to work on the last couple of squares for the blanket and had A Moment. You know the type. Where you are convinced you've done a good job, but when you review, something has gone terribly awry? Yeah. So, I knit the last three squares along the bottom of the blanket instead of the side. Argh. Nrgh.

I was good and pulled out the misplaced squares (I may have experienced a bout of un-ladylike language during that portion) and wound the newly-free-again yarn into a ball. I did finish about half of one of the squares along the side before I was overwhelmed by the "Feh". Clearly, I needed some new-project joy to bring me out my funk, so I went and scouted through all of my sock yarn and found some superwash (I love my sister; I'd never burden her with a hand-wash baby gift. That's just cruel.) that was appropriately boy-ish in colour and cast on. This is also flying along, and again, I am enchanted. Aaah, better. I'll still return to the blanket and try to finish the bastardly thing this weekend, but my spirits were raised sufficiently to re-knit what was torn out.

More spinning will be happening, too. I've been a good little spinner, and I've kept track of only spinning 15 minutes at a go, so my already screwed up knees don't worsen. The one that got the shot continues to improve, and so long as I don't accidentally overdose on painkillers again (yesterday was a long day), I have hopes that I'll be able to avoid the surgery that the Ortho was talking about yesterday.

As I'm supposed to do house-stuff in addition to the really important stuff (knitting & spinning, obviously), I'd best get to it. Tum is full of tasty steak and fresh pineapple, projects are waiting for me; time to work!

One down, many to go...

Well, this one sort of counted as a WiP, as I'd cast something on with the yarn and torn it out at least half a dozen times before settling on this pattern. It is a gift, though, so no pics. Neener!

With that done, I had to cast on a new portable project. I was planning on knitting a pair of Jaywalkers since everyone but me has, but then I found these. Oh, yes. Mitered squares, which I'm just mad for currently. (The blanket is 5 blocks away from completion now. It'll be a big square of squares.)

The only thing that could make that pattern more obnoxious is that I'm using some of the yarn I dyed in May...the rainbow yarn.

I keep calling them my "seizure socks" as I'm pretty sure someone will have one from looking at these bastards. It is an incredibly fun knit, and I'm flying through the blocks.

So. Very. Horrifying.

I love obnoxious socks!

For I am weak...

And I missed my spinning wheel. I only did it a little bit...5 minutes with both feet before remembering one of the ladies from the spinning group I no longer go to saying that if you can work a double treadle with one foot, you're golden...So I did that for about 15-20 minutes. Just enough to get a fix. It was sooooo gooood to get back in front of the wheel. I'm still damn close to finishing all of this roving, and if I can do a few minutes a night, I'll eventually get done with it.

Ah, joy is indulging in what was denied to you. *grin*

Ya gotta rippit, rippit...

So, as I'm no longer using a cane, I've taken pictures of several of my WiPs. Not the ones I'm actively working on, of course, because that'd be normal. No, these are the ones that have been sitting in boxes, sending out waves of guilt. I found the scarf I made with my third handspun yarn with just one sad end waiting to be woven in, and the cute tank-style shirt that I've already posted photos of on multiply still wanting to have the ends woven in so it can leave the house.

I also found a few things for the frog pond, and I'm working on ripping them out. A sock that I crocheted (don't ask, it was a long time ago) that will never have a mate, and the first handspun hat I made that just didn't work.

I of course forgot to photograph the grey sweater. But, hey, I don't know where the connector for my camera is. I said I'd take pictures, not that I'd post them! ...Fineeeeeeeee, I'll work on that. Later.

There was also some organizational work done; I've put the projects that are all organized on a shelf in the craft room/office and segregated the finished projects from the finished-bits-but-not-finished-projects.

Now I've been on my feet too much, so I'm going to start actually working on some stuff. House still needs organizing, but I'm cheerier just from making these small changes.

And for the record? I <3 cortisone shots. Screw you, cane!

Small blessings

In the midst of this stupid knee thing (MRI on Tuesday, orthopedist appointment tomorrow), I've had to work from home, as sitting in chairs for very long isn't very much fun for me. Though they've found additional work for me to do remotely, in addition to my normal duties that I'm trying to keep up with via a Citrix connection, you know there's some knitting happening.

The mitered rug that turned into a blanket is slowly pluggin' along. It's 7 blocks long and currently 4 blocks wide...which translates to being about 6' long and 3.5' or so wide. It's still an entertaining knit, which is good, because it's a LONG knit. I'm planning on making a square, or go until I can't complete a long row of blocks. The upside is that I'm using up this boucle that I've been hauling around with me for years. I think I bought it a month or two after I moved back to the DC area, so that'd be nearly 4 years ago, and I continually failed to find a good use for it before. Also, this is *big* yarn that takes up a lot of stash space. Each skein is 11 oz and about a foot long by 5" tall, which, even when taking into account the squishability of yarn, is a lot of room. I initially only thought I had three, which would have made a tragically long and narrow blanket, but whilst digging around, I found three more of the blasted things, and now I should get a decent blankie out of it. I'm holding the three strands together to knit it on size 13 needles, thus why it's knitting up relatively quickly. It's definitely a stay-at-home project, with it's size.

Yesterday, as I was working on the other tasks that I was provided with, I was briefly amused to observe that I had four knitting projects within arm's length of me. My spinning wheel is right nearby too, but it taunts me. No knee = no treadling and no new yarn joy.

So, I view this as a prime opportunity to finish up some projects, as I'd discussed before. I can't be distracted by spinning or, you know, moving around, so knitting it is!

Again, photos of stuff will happen someday. I finished my fiery socks last week, and they're quite snazzy, in addition to that oft-mentioned but never photographed grey sweater.

Someday. When I'm not using a cane. *bitter about the cane*

Life requires constant adaptation

Thing the first: I seamed up the grey sweater last night at a 4th of July party. People were somewhere between amused, perplexed and encouraging. Why was I knitting at a party? Because I had to sit quietly, and I might as well be useful if I can't buzz around and be sociable.

Y'see, I've hurt my knee, and now I'm kind of gimpy. I don't know quite what I did, but it is making sort of liquidy popping noises when I go down stairs...or up stairs...and sometimes when I'm just walking. I'm going to give it a week to get better, and then I'll start the referal process required by HMO land to go to a specialist to check it out.

Why does this relate to fibre, aside from the fact I finally finished (ok, there are still ends to weave in...let's not be crazy here.) the sweater? *glances at her wheel* Yeaaaaah. None of that for me for a while. Which vexes me greatly, as I'm almost done with this spinning project and dammit, I just bought a nifty yarn measurererer and and...bah. *grumble*

Also, I got a leeettle enthusiastic with that rug I cast on... now it's going to be a blanket instead. It's just too warm and soft and nice to stand on, and as anyone who has stayed at my house can attest to, I somehow don't have sufficient warm blankets. I don't know how this happened; I think I gave too many away when I stopped crocheting.

At any rate...blanket instead of rug. Sweater almost done (someday there will be pictures). Lots of knitting, since spinning is out. Hopefully there won't be any other new curve balls thrown at me in the future. A girl can dream, can't I?

In which there are rambles.

So, all of our stuff is transferred from point A to point B. All of point A was painted and the keys mailed off (registered mail, since we never heard back from our former landlady).

My wheel has been set up in the living room, so I can be relatively near to the hubby, as well as have streaming music and spinny goodness. I've got the grey sweater out to finish off...but I've only done one little seam so far. I'm much better at knitting than I am at finishing, but I think a lot of people experience that.

Still no word on the job front, which means that I continue to be a stress-monkey. However, I should be heading down to visit Jennie and Laura and Linz, and since I'll be going on official business, I won't have to pay for the vast majority of it. Yay! I apparently keep a whole snotload of talented friends in one general area. I'll go play with string at them, and they can be awesome in my general direction.

I always feel somewhat lame for not being an artist, as that really was my intent when I was younger. All of those classes and now I'm a quasi-techie managerial type. Enh. However, many years ago I figured out that I'm a pretty handy crafter, but not so good on the artist part. I tend to be better with shaping with my hands (yes, I enjoyed sculpture) and string seems to be what I get along best with. Channelled creativity (ie. patterns) is good for me; the creation from new and novel ideas... not so much. I can tweak the hell out of patterns if so inspired, but I tend to be better at adapting other people's ideas than coming up with my own, which leads to a general sense of ripping people off if you're drawing what amounts to a recreation of their work. This is encouraged with knitting; not as much with drawing.

Er, I've gotten distracted somewhere. And now, your turn.

Look, shiny thing! *scampers off to lift heavy things*

Oops.

I had grand plans to stick to it and finish that sweater. Grand plans.

Yeah.

So, the Crazy House (CH) is big and empty and has wood floors. This means that there is hellacious echoes. The place needs rugs!

You see where this is going?

Yeah.

I've got a bunch of boucle yarn that I've been trying to use for years. YEARS. I hate working with boucle, so it's been a challenge. Therefore, I cast on this.

I'll get back to the sweater when I can find the box it is in again. :p

Moving is revealing.

So, in the midst of packing up all of our stuff to move from house A to house B (which I persist in thinking of as the "Crazy House" due to it's funky level setup), I've had a chance to review and handle nearly everything I've got on the needles.

...damn.

There's a lot of projects that I started and wandered off from. I'm meaning at least two or three good sized boxes of cast-on-get-distracted. It did finally guilt me into finishing the sleeve of a sweater I'd been waiting to knit itself for the last several months...I can't imagine why that strategy didn't work. Funny how much faster things get done if you work on them. Now I've got all of the bits done (yes, I put the project down with the front, back and one sleeve done, and the second sleeve about 3/4 of the way complete), actually finishing it is going to be my top crafting priority in the Crazy House. But after that (between bouts of spinning), I need to FINISH some of these damn pieces. Starteritis is all well and good, but there has to be a case of finishitis.

The current plan is to photograph all of these items and post them on my Flickr account to keep myself accountable. It's somewhat embarrassing how many there are, and hopefully it will motivate me to complete some of these , or send them to the frog pond.

I was tagged, I tell you, tagged!

By HappyGoth

The Rules:

Rules are posted at the beginning. At the end of the post, the player tags 6 people and posts their names. Then the player goes to each of the “named” people’s blogs and leaves a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. If you’ve been tagged, you do the same, letting the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer. Your answer, of course, is the answer to the following questions. Here we go!

1. What was I doing 10 years ago?
Lessee...I think this was the month I was back in ND from Scotland, getting a bunch of dental work done before I went back to Scotland for another 6 months.

2. What are 5 things on my to-do list today?
Pack more, paint, spin, knit, eat

3. Snacks I enjoy: dried berries (especially strawberries!), maple brown sugar rice cakes, chocolate, popcorn, dill pickles

4. Places I’ve lived: All of them? Ok... Taylor ND, Lauderdale MN (suburb of St. Paul), Bismarck ND, back to Lauderdale, New England ND, Fargo ND, St. Andrews Scotland, Forfar Scotland, East Kilbride Scotland, Herndon VA, Springfield VA, Manassas VA (all three are suburbs of DC), Winnetka CA (suburb of LA), Reston VA, back to Herndon, Vienna VA and now moving back to Springfield. I've not lived anywhere for more than 3 years since I was 12.

5. Things I would do if I were a billionaire: Standard response: Pay off all debt. Buy a ranch. Buy alpacas. Travel the world (prior to the alpacas, methinks). Pay off my family's debts (as a debt reset...this wouldn't mean I'd support them from then on out, just give them a chance to start fresh). I imagine there would be a lot of fibre purchased.

I tag no one, as only HappyGoth and Darcy read my blog. Darcy, you can play along if you like. :)

It has begun.

Oh dear. I got sucked into Etsy.

I don't know how long that link will be good for, but I was obsessing over it for several days and I finally had to get it. Keep in mind, anything that reminds me of flames (work with me here, it looks flame'y to me) is probably going to be purchased by me. I'm an addict.

Fire! Fire! hunnh hunnh hunnh... /end channeling Beavis&Butthead

Learn something new every day.

For example, I just found out that the cast on that I use for damn near everything, the only cast on that I was taught growing up, that Laura had commented "looked kinda lacy"...Yeah, there's a reason for that. It's apparently a specific lace cast on.

Eunny has this to say about it:

Lace Cast On

This is a peculiar cast on, not overly popular or well-known, but very useful. It forms a loopy, open edge, sturdier than a backwards loop, but far more elastic than the long-tail. Worked loosely, this cast on is suitable for any lace project that requires a real beginning row.

The movements are basically that of a cable cast on, except the new stitches are drawn through the last stitch, rather than between the last two stitches.

Well, not well-known or popular unless that's the only one you knew for years. *shifty eyes* On the upside, I'm a learning a lot of other cast ons these days, but I found it somewhat hilarious that when I was casting on some lace, it specified using this cast on and I had to look up to see what it was. *rolls her eyes*

Quack.

My sister, who is pregnant, has requested that I return to the dark side of crochet and produce another one of these blankets. Sigh. The problem with making neat stuff is that you occasionally have to do it more than once. However, the ducks will be multi-coloured, and there may be other kinds of ducks, too! You never know when I'm feelin' wacky with a needle.

Productive usage of time

My manager looked at me today and politely suggested that I work remotely for the remainder of the day so I can be miserable at home instead of at work and I was more than happy to take him up on it.

So far, as I know he doesn't have very high expectations for me when I'm all sore and sickly (massive dental work + sinus infection = I'm so much fun to be around right now), I've instead used my time to teach myself how to knit continental style. People had professed disappointment that I didn't know how, so, I was curious if it was superior. Well, it certainly isn't so far, but I'll keep practicing. I'm much more comfortable with the English style as that's what I learned as a wee one, but I'm open to new knowledge. :)

Now, to attempt to purl...

Always something to suck you back in.

I've been at this fibre thing for a long time. My mother taught my sister and myself to knit when I was 5 during a bout of flu, and cross stitch came the following year during another flu visitation. My mother learned early on that keeping my hands occupied was a good idea. Once we'd learned how to cross stitch, she had little minions to sew Christmas Tree ornaments for her custom cross stitch business.

I played around a bit with knitting, but pretty much was a stitchin' fiend for years.

When I was 18 and livin' in Scotland and had nothing better to do with myself (I got a lot of cross stitch done, as well as becoming an avid fan of turf horse racing, in addition to playing house-wife...I'm not good at one of these things), I decided to teach myself how to crochet. It took a little while, and lord knows I had a few "What the hell is this?" results, but I persevered. I became an absolute crochet addict, churning out afghans like there was no tomorrow, graduating to making...well, anything that was soft. (Including, but not limited to, a bong cozy for a friend, and a stuffed jellyfish.)

When I was 25 and living in L.A., I randomly worked at Michaels for a while as an event coordinator and crochet teacher. Since I was now getting paid to play with yarn (AWESOME!), I decided I should remember how to knit, too. So, I picked up some sticks and string and away I went.

Now days I'm crazy about knitting, and I have a bajillion projects on the needles at any time.

But what has been fascinating me lately has been the discovery of dyeing yarn (only with kool-aid so far, but I assure you I'll pick up some of the poisonous stuff soon) and the gift of a spinning wheel for my 30th birthday. Taking fluff and turning it into something useful (if not always beautiful) is just fantastic to me.

So, that's the brief background overview of where I'm coming from. From here on out, pictures and kvetching.

Yet another damn fibre blog

Because the world doesn't have enough of these. A place to keep track of what I'm working on, or not working on as the case may be.

There will be photos and possibly links, but mostly I know myself and I realize that I suck at updating this type of thing, so there will be a lot of dry spells between posts.