I was on the fence about Netflix, but I definitely did not want to get cable again with it's overpriced packages, 62 channels no one will watch just so we can get the 3 or 4 channels that we will watch. I have to say that Pee Wee's Playhouse and Blackstone sealed the deal for me. I loved Pee Wee's playhouse when I was a kid, and Blackstone is an amazing (Canadian!!) show I got hooked on right before we got rid of cable, several years back. The series ended last year, so I've got 4 seasons to catch up on. Plus, there are a ton of documentaries that I haven't seen, and some old shows that I didn't watch the first time around (Buffy the Vampire Slayer for one).
I think the kids will enjoy Netflix as well. There's lots of anime and Korean dramas for A, C will be able to watch The Walking Dead and there is Thomas the Train and lots of kiddie movies for B. I think my dude might even find a few things of interest!
I couldn't stick to knitting solely on Not Your Boyfriend's Sweater. I couldn't be monogamous, and I really, really tried. To be honest, I wasn't enjoying the knit all that much. It was exactly what I was looking for in a sweater, something different, with a bit of interest. But I found getting through the raglan increases really, really long. To the point where I was looking forward to knitting the sleeves (seriously, who does that?)
I needed to take a break from the sweater for a bit so I cast on The Escarpment Cowl by BohoKnits.
I'm using yarn that I bought from the giant knitpicks sale. I'm going to blame mah knitta, for this slip off the wagon (because she'll just roll her eyes at me and laugh) she put in an order and asked if I needed anything. I got some more Biggo by Knitpicks-this time in Asphalt Heather, which is not a true black, but pretty close and it makes my inner wanna-be goth vry happy.
Anywhoo, I had knit about 5 inches of the cowl when I realized that my cowl looked nothing like the picture. So I re-read the pattern. If you have guessed that I was not following the pattern, you would be right. There are only 3 rows to knit, and then you repeat the 3rd row for the rest of the pattern. I was not doing that. I was repeating the 3 rows over and over. Not the fault of the pattern, it was very clearly written, I am the dumbass who didn't read the pattern correctly.
I frogged the whole damn thing, and re-started, using the actual directions this time. And guess what? It actually looks like what it's supposed to look like.
I'm still not sure if I'm doing the K1b/knit one below correctly, I probably should have watched a tutorial before actually starting it (twice), but it doesn't really matter, it's lovely, it's textured, it will be warm and it will be cozy.
Of course, 20 inches in, I realized I fucked up a row, 3 rows down. I had reversed the k1, k1b. I had to frog it, it was not a mistake I could live with, and it was so glaringly obvious. After I ripped back 3 rows and got the stitches back on the needles, I started knitting again, but it still looked wonky and wrong and weirdly stretched out, so I ripped back again. further this time. Got the stitches back on the needle and tried again. Looked a bit better, still funky in spots but I couldn't bear to frog anymore so I tried to tighten it up a little by knitting through the back loop, and even k2tog a few of the really loose loops. I'm pretty pleased that it's barely noticeable now, I can live with the minor imperfections.
I have to say that I'm pretty impressed with Biggo for holding up so well through the repeated froggings. I'd like to get this cowl finished, washed up and worn for a bit to give my final review of the yarn but I have to say, as of right now, I quite like it. Now, I'm pretty sure I've used Biggo before, I recall receiving a free skein and making a hat that I then gave away, but it was before I paid attention to the properties of the yarn (how it knits up, splittiness, pilling etc)
But now I have to set aside the Escarpment cowl and go back to the NYBsweater because I ran out of yarn. It's not a big deal, I knew it was going to happen. I had only ordered 2 hanks of the Asphalt Heather, intending to make some mitts, but I came across Escarpment and had to cast on immediately. My plan was to see how much of a cowl I could get out of the 2 hanks that I had and then decide whether to make it bigger (which would mean ordering), or just binding off and enjoying a smaller, but no less cozy cowl. Luckily, mah knitta was placing another order with Knitpicks (their sale prices are absolutely bonkers right now!!) so I asked her to add 5 more hanks of the biggo in Asphalt Heather to her order. I only need 1.5 more hanks of the Biggo yarn to finish the cowl, but I wanted extra for mitts and a hat, and maybe even a pair of mitts for B.
In between having to stop the cowl, and picking up the NYBsweater, I finished the second Shining Armour sock.
As soon as I finished the Shining Armours, I cast on a pair of socks using the Fleece Artist Trail sock in Tourmaline. Gorgeous, gorgeous colour. I would knit all the yarny things in this colour.
On the 24th, I went and saw YARN!
The director was Una Lorenzen (who also did the animation if I recall correctly), who's from Iceland and living in Montreal, and she was at the showing and did a little Q&A session afterwords which was pretty neat.
Finally, I couldn't put it off anymore, and picked up the NYBsweater again, and started working through the body. I didn't need to do much in the way of waist shaping, as there is meant to be quite a bit of positive ease to the sweater, but I did do a few sets of decreases. I started to enjoy the rhythm of the sweater after awhile and actually finished the body! Now, I can started working on the sleeves, and hopefully within the next couple of weeks I'll have a new sweater!
*Snow happened, it was horrible, but it meant it was cold enough to wear my legwarmers and they are fantastically warm and I've gotten so many compliments on them. Action shot!
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