No strings attached.

So, in the effort to diversify a little bit around the blog, I'm going to be putting down my thoughts on the whole "farm" thing, too. The yarn talk will continue, but this will track what's going on as I transition to CO farm chick.

Speaking of chicks...I placed an order with McMurray Hatchery last night. 5 Barred Plymouth Rocks, 2 Black Stars and 3 Rhode Island Reds, all hens. 4 "straight run" silkies, 2 black and 2 white. (These are clearly pet chickens, but they are so cute. Daven keeps calling them alpaca chickens, so they had to come along.) And just to keep my life complicated...a variety pack of 25 meat roosters. I figure I'd like to try a bunch of different breeds. Yes, as of last night, I've locked myself into killing and eating a bunch of birds. I've already asked my parents to come down to help with butchering, since they raised chickens when I was growing up, and I certainly remember slaughter time. We'll be doing things a little differently, or at least that's the plan. More about that, later. I'll give warnings before launching into (literal!) gory details.

A day late, but the monthly round-up of photos

This is what March has wrought for me. I've been a little busy.


Welcome to my living room. It is full of string and crazy. Watch out for the brain eating cthulhu plush dolls.


My dad's birthday socks. I sent them along with the red&pink socks that I knit back in January for my mother, as I am a slacker and their birthdays are within a month of each other. I enjoy the fact that my parents are very happy with receiving socks as presents. :)


More socks that will be presents. Hopefully they'll fit. The first socks I've knit using the magic loop method. I've cast on another pair of stripey socks using the same method, with different yarn. This is my blind/travel knitting that requires no real attention from me.


The first of the pair of socks from the big box of sock kits. I'm not keeping up with the "novel pair of socks" every month, mostly because...uh...I'm knitting everything else under the sun.


I didn't knit all of this in March. No, I cast this on back before Daven and I got engaged and had knit about half of it. I've been moving it around from house to house ever since. Funnily enough, once I picked it up and started working on it again, I finished in about 3 hours. Self, please remember that in order to finish a project, you must WORK ON a project. As I said to HappyGoth on IM "This is going to be a lesson that I feel I will learn numerous times in my life, and always be surprised by it."

And this is the big bastard that has been taking up most of my time. It's a queen sized blanket, obviously knit in panels. Size 17 needles, 4 strands of acrylic. I decided I would rather move a finished product than a big bin of random acrylic yarn, so cast this on. It is super easy, but incredibly heavy, so I have to wear my elbow brace if I'm working on it at all. I hopefully am on the last panel now, and hope to finish it before too long.











I also spun a bobbin of fine yarn, but I didn't take a picture because it loses something on the bobbin. Maybe next month.

For every horror show, there is at least one cute thing.

And this is that cute thing. Oh, I squee. Must. Make!

Reason #349587 that people look at knitters oddly

Because there are knitters who will design things like this. The page tends to imply that they then expect others to want to make this item badly enough that they will pay for it. (For those without Ravelry accounts, BEHOLD!)

Also, these are tragic. Why? WHY?!

Monthly Progress Report

Well, I think I documented what I knit during February pretty darn thoroughly, really. I did knit the second sock to the single sock I took a photo of at the beginning of February, but then I had a friend compliment it, and as she has the same size feet as me, they followed her home without a photo being taken.

These things happen with me.

I have done a teensy bit of spinning and I cast on a sock, but nothing really to write about. I finished the Adult Surprise Jacket (stupid i-cord) but it's waaaaaaaaaay upstaaaaaaaairs and I'm laaaaaaaaazy. Maybe there will eventually be a photo, but it really isn't all that different from the last picture.

I've done almost no knitting since finishing the Olympic sweater. I think I finally found my knit-limit! *gasp*

Don't worry, I'm sure I'll be back at it soon, and there will be more pictures in the future.

End of Day 16

Lo, Verily. Behold!

Steeks! That worked!

I'll come up with a better post another time, but mostly...I'm exhausted, but happy that the sweater is (basically, I've got a couple of ends to weave in) done.

HOORAY! I DID IT! *happydance*

End of Day 15

Ta da! Collar and neckband! I'll deal with the sleeves...tomorrow. I'm terribly pleased with how this turned out. Ah, so you steek to get very crisp lines. Cool.

Still afraid of the sleeves.

End in sight. Knitting all done. Only cutting and sewing left. *crosses fingers* AH CAN DOOO EEEEEEEEET!

End of Day 14 - Steeeeeeeeeeeek!

Sleeve/Crotchless leggings.


Pre-steeked body.


Post-steeked body.


And now that I'm set up to knit the collar tomorrow, I'm going to take Elizabeth Zimmerman's advice and have a nice lie down in a dark room.

Steeks are still scary. I hope it all stays!

End of Day 13

Getting nearly out of time now. Though you can't see it, with the way the steeking and the bound off stitches work out...I seem to have knit some crotchless leggings. How unexpected.

I was off of work due to being sick today, which wasn't nearly as helpful to knitting progress as you might think, since the sick involved being incredibly disoriented all day and having no attention span. It was not fun, but I managed to get a reasonable amount of progress despite the fact that I was pretty darn brain dead.

End of Day 12

Today was not a great day for knitting progress. I'll have to do better tomorrow. :/