One out of three, two days remaining!

I finished Owen's scarf last night! (Pictures taken on my cell phone, so they aren't the best quality.)

Complete with tag, because I want him to remember who gave it to him.

Pattern: Karen Baumer's Multidirectional Diagonal Scarf
Yarn: The Cat's Meow Paradisio, "Olives" and some other beige color. Two balls of each.
Needles: Size 10 (6mm).

I'm nervous about giving him a gift that so plainly states "I CARE ABOUT YOU. THIS TOOK ME HOURS TO CREATE" but I'll get over it, eventually. Things are going really well with him, and I don't think that a simple scarf (no matter how much it says about how I feel about him) will scare him away.

I wonder if I'll be able to finish Aunt Leenie's and Uncle Chris's gifts before Christmas eve. I should be able to get U.C.'s hat done, but I haven't even started A.L.'s slippers.

Yay, Presents!

It's kind of been a while.

Not much knitting going on, unfortunately. Between school work and the new boyfriend and making stupid mistakes when I do start to work on something... I just haven't really had the energy.

I'm aching to do something with my first handspun (the lace weight bottle green merino from Annie May's Spin and Wool on eBay), so I decided on a super lacy scarf to take advantage of the fine gauge and the fact that there isn't much yardage. I chose a lace pattern and got to work, but my stitch count kept getting messed up. It's so frustrating.

I did buy myself some presents (which I had planned on linking to, but are no longer listed on the Yarn Wench's website) for getting a good grade on my English exam. Storm Cypress merino roving and Early Dawn Falkland roving. Both are totally gorgeous. I haven't yet touched the merino, but the falkland (though a little weird to work with... it seems more solid that everything I've spun before) I am absolutely in love with. I've never worked with hand painted ANYTHING before, and it is such a treat to watch the colors change and build on one another. Absolutely fabulous.

Meh.

I finally cast on for the first of my holiday knitting projects, Uncle Bobby's socks, and I've already messed them up a gazillion times. First, I decided it would be a really good idea to start the cabling on them at three thirty in the morning, and woke up to a complete disaster. Then, yesterday, I thought, "Well, I'm sitting here with five people around me, carrying on twelve different conversations at once... This would be the PERFECT opportunity to cast on for UB's Socks!" and I twisted the cast on (something I have NEVER done before!). And today, I got all of the ribbing done and about four rows of the pattern, and I crossed two cables in the wrong direction.

An uncooperative sock is the last thing I need on top of everything that happened this week.

La di da.

The Revised Complete Gift list:
1. Gram - Print o' the Wave Stole (Apparently, she's allergic to wool. But she's getting the thing with the yarn it calls for, like it or not.)
2. Grandpa - Cabled scarf and gloves. (Something pretty basic, nothing too showy. He's just not that kind of guy. And the glove pattern is in the book Gram gave me.)
3. Suzy - Felted purse (Cause I think she might get more use out of something less... jangly.)
4. Uncle Bobby - Really Damn Cool Socks. Bitches.
5. Dylan - Red "Cool Kid" hat. Something sporty.
6. Tyler - Blue and green cabled hat.
7. Andrew - Multi-Orange Fair Isle hat (something along these lines)
8. Nana - Meh. I'll think of something. Maybe a smoke ring.
9. Aunt Leenie - Fuzzy slipper socks (To the ankle, by request. I think I'll get slipper bottoms from Elann.)
10. Uncle Chris - Fisherman's watchcap (Maybe with a little anchor on it.)
11. Josh - Sweater vest. He'll probably get his late.
12. Mom - Pretty Beaded Scarf (for a pretty beaded lady.)

What have I been knitting, you ask? Honestly, nothing. Why? Because I haven't been shopping. Plus, you know, real life gets in the way of everything. Mom and I might be having a major upheval some time this autumn, I just started school (RONNIE IS IN MY ENGLISH CLASS ;B), things with Josh have been alright, but I'm always on the look out for trouble. So pfft. I just don't know. Hopefully I'll find some kind of motivation in the library tomorrow, I'm gonna go before class to look for patterns.

At the very least there's been a little spinning going on. Not that I have much to show for it (working with a spindle takes A LOT of time for me!), but I've been working through the bottle green roving that came with my spindle. I love the color, I love the process, I really love spinning AND I think that working with fiber rather than yarn is much more interesting, but... I miss knitting terribly and can't wait to get started on gifts.

The Wait is Over.

Now that I'm allowed to buy fiber again, I have no idea what to get.


My ONLY focus right now is on gifts, and the only gift yarn I've purchased so far is the Merino Oro for Gram's stole. I'm thinking of buying mostly undyed, washable yarn (to save money and a lot of trouble), but without solid patterns to follow I have no idea how much yarn to buy. I bid on five skeins of Noro Kureyon on eBay, and I have no idea what I'll do with all that if i win the auction. Originally I wanted it for Tyler's hat, but I'm nervous about the yarn not being machine washable.

Oh, my previous "complete" gift list turned out to be incomplete.

1. Gram - Print o' the Wave Stole (pattern obtained)
2. Grandpa - Cabled Scarf
3. Suzy - Beaded Purse
4. Uncle Bobby - Really Damn Cool Socks
5. Dylan - Red Hat
6. Tyler - Blue Cabled Hat (in the Kureyon, perhaps x_x)
7. Andrew - Multi-Orange Fair Isle Hat (something along these lines)
8. Nana - Meh. I'll think of something. Maybe an easy triangle shawl.
9. Aunt Leenie - Convertable Mittens
10. Uncle Chris - Convertable Mittens
11. Josh - Sigh.
12. Mom - Functional Beaded Scarf.

I decided to take Karl off... simply because I have no god damned clue what to do for him.

I can't think.

Nine more days!

I FEEL LIKE I AM ABOUT TO CRAP MY PANTS.


I haven't had a major fiber fit until about half an hour ago, but now I feel as though my insides are being torn to shreds over this yarn and this pattern. Not that I want to make one for myself (we'll see how much Oro I have left over), this would be for Gramz. My month-long period of abstinence has gone without a hitch thus far, but I fear that I may crack.

The Complete Gift List:
Aunt Leenie: I really have no clue. I'll have to ask mom for ideas. Gloves?
Gram: Print O' the Wave stole
Grandpa: One of those funny street urchin hats. "Charles Dickens Chic," to borrow a phrase.
Karl: A 'Do Rag with a little motorcycle on it. Maybe I'll embroider "Caio!" under it in fancy script. Hahaha.
Josh: Probably a sweater vest with buttons (even though I hate them). He'd be cute in one.
Lorii: Leg warmers, but I really want to make her a felted beret and scarf. Featuring bees.
Momz: No idea. I should get on that, shouldn't I? Maybe a pretty scarf with beads.
Suzy: A beaded purse in purples and blacks.
The Boys: Hats. Orange for Andrew, Red for Dylan, and I think green for Tyler.
Uncle Bob: Socks. He got jealous when I made some for Grandpa's birthday. Probaby in navy blue.
Uncle Chris: Simple Fisherman's hat in a light blue. Maybe with some wave detail. It will suit him.

If I'm not crazy by christmas I might make Shelley and Eddie's twins little bears or something. That's a lot of "might."


The Very Incomplete Shopping List:
One (gigantic) skein of Ornaghi Filati Merino Oro
1.75mm 32" circular needles

The Monster Strikes AGAIN!

I decided to go on eBay tonight. Just to look, you know? To compare prices on drop spindles and spinning kits... I didn't mean to spend MORE money on fiber or tools or anything... but... I ended up buying a cute little spindle kit with 2oz of dark green roving and another 4oz ball of blueish green roving.

The good news is that I'm going to be a spinner soon. The bad news is that my total fiber/needle/tool expenses for the week are now totalling about $70.

As of the time this entry is posted, I vow to spend NO MONEY on yarn or knitting supplies for the next month. I am abstaining from fiber-related purchases until August 26, 2006. And after Aug. 26, winter gift shopping will begin.

Speaking of winter gift shopping, I was thinking that if I get to be any good at this spinning thing, I could give my grandmother a skein of hand spun yarn for christmas. I just don't know what she'd make with it. Fat Karen and What's for Dinner (Josh's parents) will probably get scarves.

Goodnight, don't let the moth larvae bite.