March Break!

  March Break is upon our household. Yay! No waking up to an alarm for one whole week! No fighting to get sleepy teens up and out the door! No fighting with the 5yr old over what constitutes an acceptable breakfast (a bagel with cream cheese-fine. A bowl of jam-not fine).  Sadly, M does not get March break, so our adventures will be local and low-key. Possibly sledding, possibly swimming and possibly a trip to the BIODOME.  Possibly a little knitting, but not likely...

I've had a nasty little chest cold. Lots of coughing, no energy, some sinus congestion. Add the weather to that-it's been frigid, windy and snowy-this chick has got the blahs.  Luckily, towards the end of the week goodies arrived in the mail. Packages definitely go a long way towards raising my spirits...especially when it's knitting related! All those gift certificates/visa gift cards have been spent and now I have yummy yarn and fabulous stitch markers!

I ordered some stitch markers from Etsy. Lovely little leaves.

And I was so pleased with them that I ordered two more sets from GloriaPatreSpinNKnit and I'm very, very happy with them and I love that two extra stitch markers arrived with my shipment. Lots of super cute stitch markers in her shop (and great looking buttons too!), and it was very hard to choose which ones to order.  Cats and dragonflies.

The other stitch markers I ordered were from BeyondBrass-and these stitch markers are absolutely stunning, just gorgeous! I saw them after I had ordered the other stitch markers and couldn't help myself. So now I have many, many stitch markers. How many stitch markers are a reasonable number to have? Because I suspect I have surpassed that number.

As for yummy yarn, I ordered some Valley Yarns Huntington in North Sea-that I plan to use for my Hitchhiker. I'm kind of disappointed in the colour; I thought it was more of a dark teal. I want a dark teal.  This is not the dark teal I envision but it is still pretty.

And some marvelous Malabrigo Arroyo in Chircas.

I love me some Malabrigo. Everything I've ever knit with Malabrigo is just yummy. I've never met a Malabrigo I didn't love. And the colours...oh the colours! They sing to me. If I had to knit with only one brand of yarn it would be Malabrigo. I've never had weird knots or problems with their hanks,

Also purchased: Addi Turbo lace needles in 2.25mm for socks (I prefer them to the knitpicks circs I already have in that size) and 3mm circs for my Hitchhiker-very needed as the only 3mm needles I have are dpns and straights. I do NOT knit anything on straights anymore.
Two more of the Blue Sky Alpacas Pretty Cheep bags, in lime and berry. And now I own all of them mouhahaha! Victory is mine!
And that pretty greeny-grey is SweetGeorgia Tough Love Sock in Cypress. For my Hitchhiker.

If you are thinking to yourself "erm, what about the Huntingdon she bought for her Hitchhiker?"  or perhaps you're thinking "What happened to going with a dark teal yarn for the hitchhiker?" I have no answer for this...Maybe I'll make more than one hitchhiker! Maybe I'll only make socks with the other stuff. And really, sock yarn doesn't actually count as stash right? Maybe I'll happen across the perfect dark teal at some point and make another hitchhiker.
I almost feel like all this hitchhiker planning and buying is the hitchhiker kiss of death. Like, all this build up and I'll start knitting it and hate it and banish it to the forever UFOs basket.

One of the things that sucks about this cold is that my stamina has taken a huge hit. Right before I got sick, I discovered that I could use the stationary bike and knit at the same time.

And I can either listen to podcasts or watch more Supernatural ^_^  Multitasking for the win! I can normally do 40-45 minutes on the bike before my ass hurts, but with this chest cold, I can barely do 15minutes and i'm feeling wiped out and exhausted. It sucks.
Despite feeling poorly, I did manage to squeeze in enough short "rides" to finish the sock. Until I got to the bind off. I'm not sure I could do a three needle bind off while biking. Maybe I'll try with the next sock.  Anywhoo, knitting the sock on circs made turning it inside out, so much easier than my usual method-which is to put the stitches on waste yarn, turn the sock inside out, put the stitches back on the needle and then bind off.

And now I have one Twilight sock using TurtlePurls self striping yarn.

Crappy picture, but when I finish the other one I promise to take a less crappy picture of both of them.


At some point last week, I cast on Sinnesfrid. Using Malabrigo (of course) Rios in Glazed Carrot. I am somewhat excited to be knitting a vest despite never wearing vests (at least not since I was a little kid and I wore a vest my grandmother knit for me) this vest needs buttons! And I have buttons in my button stash! YAY!

It supposedly does not take up a lot of yarn, but just doing the textured part of the yoke seemed to take up a lot of yardage. I only have two skeins left, plus what you see in the picture; so I hope it's enough. I haven't knit on it in a couple of days, because sick, because socks, because I got it into my head that I needed to organize my yarn. It was a little overwhelming at first, I have a lot of random balls. I basically decided to only deal with the yarn that has more than one skein.

Organizing: Immediately after purchasing, I put the yarn in a large ziploc bag. I do this because as my stash has grown and I have nicer yarns that I actually care about, my paranoia about moths has also grown.  If I have a pattern in mind for that yarn, I print up a copy of the pattern and stick it in the ziploc bag as well. If I plan on casting on for that project in the next week or so, I'll wind up the hank on my swift and ball winder, and add the needles that are needed for that project.

I'm pleased with the system I've come up with. Hopefully I can stick with it. I wish I could showcase my beautiful yarns, but that's not really realistic...in a perfect world, moths would only eat acrylic.

I tried to take pictures of my FO from the last post-Plomo and Dew Point. Did not work very well. Crappiness ensues! 

Stitch and Bitch tomorrow :)

FO Plomo! Slippers! Dew Point! Ratties!

As the title states my second easy-raglan-v-neck is DONE! I used Malabrigo Rios in Plomo, and it is lovely. I really adore the colour and the feel of this sweater. I would love to get a nice picture of the sweater, but it hasn't happened thus far, so I'll share the crappy pics and at some point, someone with decent skills will take a good picture of me in my plomo so I can share. 

 

The pictures really don't do it justice :(  So here's a bonus picture of sweater soaking in the sink...may have used a tad too much eucalan-whoops.

I did indeed finish the sweater before my birthday, with time to spare. Such a quick knit! So quick that I actually finished the sweater before my replacement karbonz arrived.  I've gotten a few compliments on the sweater, which of course makes me happy. It's so nice to be able to make something with my hands, that looks and feels great. I <3 knitting! 

Last weeks Stitch&Bitch saw us go on a field trip to Starbucks -can you believe I've never been in a Starbucks? I don't drink coffee, so I've never understood the point of going. I had a hot chocolate and tried some of A's super yummy tea, which I then purchased a tin of (Teavana's Jade Citrus Mint). Then we headed to Mouline (localish yarn store).  T bought some Noro Kureyon, in a wild colourway so she could make some worsted weight socks. A bought some sock yarn and some Cascade 220-for making socks as well. 

I didn't buy much, yes, one ball of sock yarn of course (the same colour A bought, because I liked it so much), but this time it was not a lux sock yarn, 

I love the colours, the olives and greys and dark red. This yarn might become socks for the oldest boy. But most likely me, because I am a proud member of the selfish knitter club. And the boy's feet are bigger than mine, and still growing. That's a lot of knitting.

I also grabbed 2balls of Noro Kureyon (which was on sale! score!) because I've never worked with Kureyon and I had been obsessing on getting my hands on some Noro. 

Not sure what I'm going to make with the Kureyon, I don't think it will be comfortable as a scarf or cowl, was thinking a hat and a pair of wristers? Or maybe some house socks...

Then my birthday happened and it was lovely, I got books (yay) and monies (in the form of gift cards) for yarn (yay) and two more of those pretty cheep bags 

I also got two patterns from Ravelry; Hitchhiker and Prairie fire.   Obviously, I'm going to use bday monies for yarn for those specific patterns. It wasn't easy choosing yarn though, it actually took a couple of days.  I didn't want to go with anything super lux, in case the first knitting of each pattern comes out terribly (I have so much confidence in my ability *sigh*)  and I figure if I use a more reasonably priced yarn and have no problems (or work out any problems) I'll just re-knit with a better yarn. There was a merino/baby alpaca/silk blend I was looking at but it would have cost 80$US (after the discount WEBS gives) not including shipping. I ended up going with Malabrigo Arroyo. I've never used Arroyo before, I hope it's more like Rios than Worsted.

 I originally wanted to get some Shibui Staccato Solids for the Hitchhiker. Staccato is a merino and silk blend-the colours are beyond lovely, but I was running low on gift card funds, so I opted for some Valley Yarns Huntingdon. I love the look of hitchhiker, and I can see making more than one-so Shibui Staccato will be in my hands at some point. Oh yes....someday it will be mine.

FO 2:

in my last post I mentioned that the 5yr old wanted slippers. Well, I  knit B a pair of slippers using THIS pattern. I made the first one out of black Malabrigo worsted. It didn't fit. So I tweaked the pattern a little wee bit by adding a couple of stitches to the cast on. I also, at B's request (after he rifled through my stash) added orange and green stripes. (The orange is also MalWorsted, in Glazed Carrot. The green is Valley Yarns Amherst in Jungle Green)

At least he likes them? I find them kind of ugly, a little too halloween-y. Despite how ugly I find the colours together; it was worth it hearing "I love my new slippers and I love you for making them". D'awww. I just need to use some puffy paint on them so he doesn't break his little neck :/ Anyway, it was a great pattern, they knit up super fast and I may at some point make a pair for myself-they seem like a good way to use up stash yarn.

FO 3:

Also mentioned in my last post was my intention to finish at least one UFO. Out comes dew-point. Covered in cat hair (the UFO basket is Libby's favourite napping place) and weirdly wrinkled. I couldn't find my notes at first, but I have the pattern(obvs) , so I was able to figure out what size I had been making, and where I was. When I had last put it down all those many months ago, I was working on the first sleeve. And might I add, using dpns? What the hell? I switched to circs immediately.  I added an extra inch to the sleeve, did some ribbing and bound off. I then started on the second sleeve, picked up stitches, knit stockinette and even started the ribbing (ugh can I mention how tedious 1x1 ribbing on smallish needles is?) while at T's for Stitch & Bitch, and should have finished yesterday evening but couldn't be arsed to pick it up. 

I finished it this morning after dropping B off at school. Weaved in the ends and took a crappy picture.

Not even bothering to take a picture of it on because I was (and are) still in pajamas. To be fair, I didn't bother getting dressed when I brought B to school because it was sooo friggin cold that I wore snowpants. It's -32c with the wind chill out there :( 

Ratties:

We got some. Kind of spur of the moment. I named them after Supernatural characters (SuperRATural ahuehuehue) I lurve them, they're so squishy and cute. 

                                                                          Dean

                                                                  Gabriel

                                                                  Sam

Plomo Uber Alles

So there I was, getting ready to re-watch season 5 of Supernatural (don't judge) and get some serious knitting done on my Plomo sweater.  My karbonz interchangeable needle had the Susan Bates sock point protectors on the tips and when I went to take the protector off, the unthinkable happened.

The tip detached from the needle.

Luckily I have other interchangeable needles in that size (5.5mm/US9) and I didn't lose any stitches. It was a bummer though, these were a Christmas gift from mah sweetie. The next morning I called WEBS and spoke with one of the nicest customer service reps I've ever had to speak to. I was very happy when she said that it was not a problem for them to replace my needle, for free! Yay! I hope it comes soon-I really enjoy knitting with the karbonz.

Anywhoo, it's coming along really quickly. I finished the body and I'm really pleased with how the pixie dust  pattern looks, it's super cute.

I'm on the second sleeve now, just finished the decreases and have started the ribbing. I'm totally going to be finished by my birthday! Woo! I might even have time to wash and block it before my birthday-I figure if I can finish it by Wednesday, get the ends weaved in, and soak it in Eucalan, it'll be dry enough to wear to my mom's for my birthday super. There won't be much in the way of ends to weave in, as I've been using the Russian join and any other ends have been weaved in as I go along. But, man, those last 4 inches are a killer...is it just me? It feels as if I knit and knit and knit, and when I measure, I've not even gotten an inch done. Tedious ribbing is tedious.

I did decide to put the pixie dust pattern on the sleeves as well.

I  like how it looks, but I think if I were to do another v-neck sweater, (which I probably will because I love them) and decided to do another lace panel on the sleeve, I would likely start from the neckline and work down. Right now, the pixie dust just kind of comes out of nowhere.

So it's been Plomo Uber Alles (a nod to the Dead Kennedys "California Uber Alles")  which means Plomo more than anything else. And I've started re-watching season 1 of Supernatural. Starting off  a re-watch on season 5 is silly, might as well go back to the beginning non?
 I haven't been ignoring my Twilight sock. I managed to get a good couple of  inches on the leg of the sock with the optometrist appointments for A and C-and on the public transportion to get to and from those appointments.

On one of those to and fros, there was a problem in the tunnels and we were stuck in the metro for about 20 minutes. So glad I had my knitting! It's funny how a situation that would normally drive me nanners doesn't faze me in the slightest if I have knitting.
So I'm about 3/4 of an inch from starting the heel flap for first sock, though i'm wondering how the self striping is going to work out on the flap. I'm worried it will look all wonky and weird, but I guess I won't know until I get there. I already cast on the second sock just to have it ready to be knit on the go, as I am not confident enough to turn a heel when i'm not at home in my comfy chair and able to fully focus on the task at hand. I won't even attempt to deal with the heel flap until I finish Plomo.



 B has asked me to make him a pair of black slippers and I promised him that when I am done this sweater I will make them for him. And B sized slippers shouldn't take too long to work up. But after that, I'm going to make it a point to finish those two UFOs that have been hibernating forever, before I start any new projects...Oh, who am I kidding?...I will finish ONE of them before I start another project. HAH! I know at some point I want to make a hat with the lovely alpaca P got me for x-mas, and I'm itching (haha) to make something with Noro Silk Garden-I have a ball of it that has been in stash (should see how many grams it is) for a pretty long time. That last thing I made with it was a chullo hat on US 10.5 needles! Which is way too big for nsg in my opinion. But that was back when I was a newb and didn't know much about needles sizes and yarn weights. I also swore not to ever knit with noro again, but i've been thinking about those colours since T and I went to Mouline. Oh Noro Silk Garden, I wish I could quit you (very bad impression of Brokeback Mountain) A couple of days ago I tried to frog the hat, but every time I tried to gently tug a piece, it would break in my hand. You'd think being knit on too-big needles would make it easy to frog...It's not like I have a ton of UFOs laying around, that little shrug only needs a couple of inches of stockinette and then some ribbing on the first arm, and then stockinette and ribbing on the second arm-and it's short sleeved. There's no good reason not to finish it.
The other shrug will be hard to work on though, not "my" colour, it's a wool/acrylic blend (why yes, I am a wee bit of yarn snobbish-but only because acrylic hurts my hands) and I don't particularly like knitting with it, and looking back at the pattern; it doesn't seem like it will be super flattering...I don't even want to look in the knitting basket to judge whether or not that item is worthy of my knitting time. I think I'll go to bed instead!