Stashbusting and Startitis...

Subconsciously I think I am preparing for the constable to be away for a week on course.



Project: Pinwheel baby blanket
Yarn: Marks and Kattens Bomull, 50% cotton, 50% wool
# of total balls purchased; 6
Original intention: A baby sweater of some sort
Total yarn used: 3 of the six balls by the time I'm done.
Started: Sometime in May



Project: Felted needle roll
Yarn: Patons Classic Wool, purple and rust
Original intention: Yarn left over from the felted slipper frenzy at Christmas
Total yarn used: Hmm...hard to say. Half a ball of the purple has gotten me this far, and I have another full ball that I was hoping to get rid of. Half a ball of the rust as well, which won't get me all the way. Not sure what I'm going to do after that.
Started: Today



Project: Colourful toddler socks
Yarn: Fortissima Colori (I think)
Original intention: Socks for me
Total yarn used: Most of that ball there hopefully.
Started: Last weekend

The other project is not a stash busting project, but rather a recent stash acquisition. Patons Stretch Sock in the Kelp colourway. I'm also trying two socks on two circs at one time, which while fiddly at first, seems to be going fairly well. Considering I started them yesterday, I'd say they're going pretty well indeed.



I love this face.

Stupid Commercial Jingles...

Actually, it's not that stupid, it's just stuck in my head. Anyone know the Free Credit Report.com commercials? Never mind, I found it for you.

I'm thinking of learning this on the guitar...my life makes me sad sometimes.

I don't know about where you live, or your tv viewing habits, but I watch what could be considered an appalling amount of television. I should qualify that statement; I have the tv on a lot. If watching consists of looking in the general direction of the television, paying a moderate amount of attention to what is going on, then I don't actually watch it. I knit, compute, doze off on the couch in a bored stupor...that sort of thing, all with the tv as my white noise in the background. We have this obscenely large television for the space that it's in (I'd say that the tv would actually be a sizable fraction of our living space) so it's very very hard to ignore.

Anyway, my point. The cable channels, like Spike or whathaveyou, loop commercials at a tortuous rate. It's the same three commercials over and over and over again. It's very 1984 in it's design. It actually surprises me that I haven't gone over the deep end by now at how irritating these looping commercials are. It's the ones for the local radio stations that get me. They play this montage of horrible pop songs, and it happens at every commercial break. To top it off, the constable, when he's home, sings along to 'Bringin' Sexy Back' every time there is a commercial break and that frackin' commercial is on. But the Credit Report commercial? These ones we both like (there's two or three different ones). And we both sing along. It's just disgustingly Pavlovian.

But when you wake up with it in your head, you know the evil advertisers have won, hands down. They have bored a hole right into your subconscious and there's no getting them out. I'm still not interested in their product though.

Onto the knitting part:



I have this much done on the alpaca baby sweater. To answer Carrie's question in the comments, alpaca is a dream to knit with. Surprisingly heavy once knit though. Has a little bit of heft to it. But so so soft. I have a pair of fingerless mitts in alpaca and they are hands down (pun intended) my favourites, for their warmth and their softness. I plan on knitting another pair. I saw that Heddy made a pair of Fetching with her alpaca, and I may very well do the same. Sorry for the crappy lighting of the photo, but the flash just washes out the cables.



Feeling a little baby sweater fatigue, I started this Skull Isle out of Son of Stitch n' Bitch for myself. This is going to be Stash Project #4. Two balls of Wool Gatto, one 100% wool (red) the other with a touch of cashmere, both stash yarns. Again, a dream to knit with, but the pink is much thinner than the red, which I hadn't thought of until I started knitting and so the two together are knitting up a little differently. That combined with the fact that I'm using a 3.5mm needle when the pattern calls for a 2.25mm needle and the whole thing is turning out a little loosey-goosey and on the big side. It was pure laziness on my part. I wanted to start knitting it, I had the 3.5mm handy, I didn't feel like rummaging for the appropriate needle size, nor was I going to swatch, so I just started knitting, full steam ahead. The result? I'm going to rip it out and do it again, with a more appropriate needle size. Noodling around Ravelry I've read of more than one person who had some gauge issues with this hat, so I'm thinking that either a 3.00mm or a 3.25 might work out for me. I love how the two colours blend together though, and am uber excited to see the skull chart come together in this uber girly hat.



Then there's this. I've taken this picture 800 times this winter. This very picture. I had an epiphany about this weather this morning. The universe is preparing me for a northern posting someday, where this kind of thing starts in like late September and doesn't stop till sometime in May. I just know it. That has to be it. It was somewhat funny on the CBC yesterday, as I was listening to the local weather report on the way home. The weather dude, in talking about the impending snow, said 'Well we haven't had any for almost 24 hours ya know.' Ha...ha...h-uuuuuuggggghhhhh.

Don't even bother trying to be optimistic or cheer me up about it. I'm wallowing. Okay, okay, we definitely have not had it as bad as most. And the inch that we get will be gone tomorrow. But still...with the jingle in my head and this greeting me as I took the Hankster out for his morning ablutions...h-uuuuuggggghhhhh.

Oh yeah, Hank. He's getting quite possessive of me. Last night at puppy school, he barked his fool head off at any other dog that came near me, which they all did, cuz I have hot dogs for treats. I felt like I had a little band of furry disciples. I was not impressed with his behaviour, and am in fact quite concerned about where this may lead. Not sure what I'll have to do to get this in check. For the time being, he's all bark and no bite. The little collie that is there to be the shining example of a well trained, well behaved dog, was taking none of Hank's BS, and when she snapped at him and told him in no uncertain terms to shut it, he scurried behind my legs and hid. So...ya know. Whaddya do. Silly dog.

Until later...

Eeek! Steeks!

So I'm in the grocery store, waiting at the checkout, looking at all the magazines. You know the ones I'm talking about, the Diabetic Cookbook one and the Get Organized one and the Archie and Jughead double digest one...and they're all about that size. Then my eyes land on the quintessential supermarket checkout magazine; The Complete Idiots Guide to Healthy Relationships.

...

Sure, why not.

Anyhoo, I wasn't entirely forthcoming about my WIP in my last post. I had plans. Big plans. Scary plans. Steeking plans!



Here's the steeking prep, a crochet edge on either side of the stitch you want to cut.

I'd be remiss if I didn't pause here and explain to my non-knitting readers, if you've hung in this long, that steeking is a process that instills great fear and confusion in knitters. The whole thing is counter intuitive. The whole point of knitting something properly, is so that it won't fall apart. For you see, steeking is where you knit something, a complete something no less, and then you cut it up. Be forewarned, the rest of this post is heavy on the geeky, knit-technical content, but feel free to stick around.



So I did the crochet thing, cuz that's what Eunny Jang told me to do (the steeking instructions were from a Eunny Jang pattern that I hope to knit in the future...hence trying out the steeking thing now, rather than on $50.00 worth of yarn that I really really care about) and then made my cut. And it wasn't all that bad. I was a little nervous, but as this is an experimental sweater anyway, I was willing to deal with the aftermath.

Which to be honest, was a bit of a mess. I'd neglected to factor in the floats from the colourwork just hanging around back there, on the wrong side of the sweater. I suppose if I were the kind of person who didn't dive into things headlong, without any regard for rules and the proper way of doing things, I might have consulted a reference (hello? Ravelry?) or two before, ya know, cutting through the floats. Or, I suppose I might have secured them with the crochet process as well. Nuh-uh. I just cut 'em. I had planned on picking up the stitches a few stitches over from where I had cut, so I figured they'd be pretty secure anyway. Which I did, and they were...sorta...but then they all kind of became loosey goosey and, well, parts of the colourwork, ie. the nice white patterns on the right side of the sweater looked like the dog's breakfast.

So anyway, yadda yadda yadda, I tacked down the facing from the steek on the inside of the sweater and picked up the stitches for the edging I wanted to do.



I cannot tell you how many times I have done this. I'd done the right side completely, knit, bound off, sewn down only to clue in that perhaps I had picked up a few too many stitches. Had to knit the left side in the correct number just to be sure.



Seeing as I wasn't going to be able to block out the obvious discrepancy, I had to rip it all out and do it again. Much better. I plan to sew in a zipper here, so please pray that there is one out there that is the correct size.

I'm also going to knit a collar and then block the snot out of it, as it's really rather bunchy. But a nice sturdy sweater. And Dorothy? It's supposed to be a size 2, but it looks bigger than that to me, so I dunno. Then again, I can't really reference kids clothes all that well.

So...that was my adventure in steeking. Steeking is, to my understanding, only supposed to be done with 100% wool, and I know that this Shetland Chunky that I knit the sweater out of is most definitely a wool/acrylic blend, which may account for some of the sts coming loose. But anyway, glad to have finally tried it. The funniest thing is, when I picked up this wool at the thrift store, I sort of saw something just like this being knit out of it. It wasn't a clear idea, but I thought it would make more of a jacket than a sweater. Kinda neat.

Until later...

Stash Buster # 2; WIP...

I'm really quite lucky in that I can shirk all responsibility for an entire Sunday and just sit and knit.

Remember the bag of yarn that I wanted some advice on what to do with? Well, a few people suggested doing a Lopi type sweater, and Heddy just happened to have a couple of patterns, which she kindly lent to me, and so while the dishes and the laundry went undone and the poor dog was practically crossing his legs at various points throughout the day, I dove in and got this much done:



I added the stripes half way through there. Here's my best critic evaluating my work;



His only opinion is that my knitting is tasty.

Anyhow, this is my first yoke sweater, and so far so good. I should be done the knitting part tonight, as I actually made myself do all my work today, though it was tough! I kept wanting to go back and just do a little more.

That's it. Just a quick update. I'm loving this stash busting thing. It's yielding some great results and now when I consider projects that require new yarn, I'm not feeling nearly as weighed down. I've got two projects in mind for more stash yarns. Stay tuned!

Stash Buster # 1...

Janette, if you're reading this, could you look away for a little bit? I haven't decided what I'm going to do with this particular project yet, whether I'll send it to you now or later. I'm sure I'll have it figured out by the end of this post.

...

Alright. Well, first off, it's Hank day, so here's the obligatory puppy pic:



Such a handsome devil.

Last night was the first night of puppy school! Lexa and Jewel and Hank and I all piled in the Jeep together and after a brief stop at the wrong location, we got ourselves straightened out and managed to eek out a few basic exercises. Hank finally got to meet Jewel, who is just as sweet and cute as can be, and I realized upon meeting her that I need to get Hank around more dogs more often, just to be reminded of how huge he is. I was expecting Jewel to be at least comparable in size from the pictures on Lexa's blog, but she's just wee.

My brute on the other hand, with the exception of a large Collie that was there as an example dog, owned by the trainer, will shortly out weigh every other dog in the class, and maybe already does. He's not taller than all of them yet, but it certainly won't be long. You wouldn't know it to watch him though. I keep forgetting that despite his size, Hank is still very much a puppy, and he likes to stay pretty close to 'mom'. The training exercises only last about five minutes or so, and then the class gets to play with one another. Hank hung around the outside of the group, wanting very much to play and join in, but just wasn't too terribly sure. Another girl puppy was having a grande old time, wanting to play with Hank, but I guess she was just a little too aggressive with her sniffing. Hank's ears went straight back, tucked his tail between his legs and ran up against the wall.

Since he wasn't too sure about joining the group, he went and had a drink of water. And he drank. And he drank. And he drank. You would've thought I'd never given this dog water in his life. But this is what he does. We've been over to friends houses, and he drinks their dog bowls dry. I don't get it, but it's his quirk. As odd as this may sound, he almost takes after me. When I was younger, I was very much a wallflower. I'd be off in the corner, trying to look very engrossed in something else. Is it possible to pass on one's neurosis to another species?

Anyhow, the whole thing was a hoot. We got to do sit, down and recall, which really wasn't a problem for Hank. The trainer held his collar while I walked across the room, like 20 paces mind you and Hank freaked the frack out. He was positively despondent over the prospect that I might be leaving without him. You're supposed to call the name once and the command once, as in "Hank! Come!". I think I got out the 'H' sound and he was already upon me. It's nice to know I'm loved.

Towards the end of the class, Hank was starting to come around. He and Jewel were starting to really get into the puppy wrestling and as he is such a big lumbering lovable lug, he took one swipe at her head with his paw and totally had her pinned. She's feisty though. I have no worries. Anyhow, Thursdays from now on should be a lot of fun and I just love that Hank gets to socialize with other dogs. And is completely pooped when we get home. Oh, and PS: I let it slip the other day that Hank is a knitting term...the constable was not amused. Tee hee!

Now, onto the knitting content. Here is my first stash busting FO (finished object);



Pinwheel Baby Sweater by Shelley Mackie from Elann.com. Knit with 5 mm needles using all Patons Classic Wool. I call this one my Cherry Chocolate Pinwheel, cuz it reminds me of, well, cherry chocolates.

I had a tonne of Classic Wool left over from the tams and the slippers I knit and even though I bought different colours for different projects (the variegated for a tam, the rust and brown for the hubs felted clogs), they all went together really nicely. I'd had my eye on this project for a while, and tried it a few years back with double pointed needles, which just didn't work. This time I did the magic loop method, and this project just flew off the needles. To give you an idea, I started it last Sunday, Feb. 17/08. I worked on it all day, realized I'd made a bunch of mistakes, decided I'd be okay with that and just make an afghan, changed my mind, ripped it all out and started again Sunday night.

As is usually the case, I didn't read far enough ahead in the pattern to realize that you do the I-cord as your casting off, so I cast off and then did the I-cord. I wanted to this twisty thing with two different colours, so knit two lengths of I-cord, started sewing, realized I didn't have enough, ripped that all out and just attatched the one colour of I-cord, which I could've knit in as I went anyway, even after casting off. The hubs is always chastising me for taking short cuts, since it nearly always creates more work that it avoids. It still hasn't sunk in. I'm getting better with regards to sewing patterns though. I nearly always follow the directions as written now, since ripping seams is my very least favourite thing to do. But I digress...



I can't tell you how much I love this little sweater. I think it just may be my favourite thing I've knit so far. It's simple, easy and fast to knit, interesting construction and I love the colour combo's I picked. And it says in the pattern that it's supposed to fit from infant to toddler, around 4 yrs. We shall see. Mine looks a little small to fit a four year old, but then again, I have little to no reference for children's sizing. That being said, I doubt I'll wait to send it to Little Miss K, as I'd like it to get as much wear as possible. It needs a good blocking before it goes though, and I still have a little bit of brown left, so I plan to knit some more I-cords and attach them to either side of the front for a little tie. I'm kind of into knitting I-cord. It's kinda fun.

This stash busting thing is going pretty well so far. I've figured out what I want to do with that pink and white Shetland Chunky, thanks to the suggestion of a few faithful readers. I think it may become a little Lopi sweater, we shall see. And whilst knitting this Pinwheel, I thought up at least two more projects for yarn I have in my stash. Progress reports on those to come as they happen. I feel as though I am yarn abundant at the moment, which is quite nice. Should help keep the yarn purchases at a minimum for the next little while.

And as I've rambled on long enough, we'll end here for now. Have a lovely weekend y'all!

Until later...