Eesh.

Mom and I are moving. I have an intense urge to knit dishcloths and pillow covers.

The new apartment is just across town, but having to sort through everything I've accumulated since I was eight is turning out to be very difficult for me.

On the knitting front, I have yet to finish the summer top (my guage was slightly off, and the 3/4 finished tank will most likely be ripped and reknit into something even more summery), and UB's socks will get knitted before the end of the year.

A week before mother's day I began knitting my mom a pair of Monkeys. After I finished the first sock I asked her to try them on for size, and she informed me that she loved them, but would much rather have a pair of ankle socks.

I now have an absolutely gorgeous and lonely regular-length monkey sock haning out in my knitting bag. And it will stay that way. Until someone decides to buy me another hank of yarn.

Boo, internet!

The internet just keeps getting more and more boring.

I've been knitting, but I keep getting distracted from projects.

When the weather was nicer (BOO, THE WEATHER!) I started designing/test knitting a little summer top. I had plans for this little top, until the atmosphere turned on me. The crazy temperature changes have taken a toll on me, and I kind of think that spring will never come.

U.B.'s socks are truckin' along, though! Even if they are nearly a month late for his birthday, and four months late for christmas. When they are finished, I'm going to send them to him via snail mail with a little note that will say "You have no idea what these socks have put me through. Happy belated Christmas/birthday."

This pair of socks may be my longest running work in progress (with any chance of completion) ever.

Pictures... eventually.

Man, I'm so happy this pair is done.

Gram's "Aliene" slipper socks are finished as of Tuesday, but I failed to take a picture before I gave them to her. The gift was already several days late and I was too anxious to give them to her before I took a picture.

Toe-Up "Aliene" stats:
Pattern: My own, featuring EZ's sewn cast-off.
Yarn: KnitPicks Swish Superwash. Less than two Balls Ballerina, and about half of one ball Capri.
Needles: Set of Five 3.75mm DPNs
Skills Learned: EZ's sewn cast-off. Plus, this is my first (and fully improvised!) pair of toe-up socks ever.

While I don't have any photos of the finished socks, I do have pictures of the second sock in progress, as modeled by Lolita's kitten, Artichoke.


Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.

My next task is to finished Uncle Bobby's socks. Which have been laying around in my "to knit" box since like... September. I was thinking about frogging the first sock until I freed it from its white plastic prison and realised that it was close to half finished. So I'm trudgin' on. Men's socks at 9sts per inch make my wrists hurt, especially when I'm working double-time so they'll be ready for his birthday on the 17th.

Aliene Slipper Socks

Are 100% finished! The first pair, anyway.


Pattern: My own, using The Knitting Fiend's How-to for short rows.
Yarn: KnitPicks Swish Superwash. Significantly less than two Balls Wisteria, and only about half of one ball Deep Ocean. Neither color is nearly as yellow as it looks in the picture.
Needles: Set of Five 3.75mm DPNs
Skill Learned: Short row heels and toes!

I liked knitting these, even though it took me nearly a month and a half. I really enjoyed learning short row heels and toes, but on these socks (top down version) they left gaps at the corners. I am knitting my Gram's pair toe up, and the hole problem is much less noticable.

Finished project stats on those (hopefully) within the week!

I'm not actually a knitter

I am a chronic swatcher/frogger. Some people would like to call this a "Process Knitter."

I have some technical knowlege, I know a good deal of the jargon, and I "get" the in jokes. Shit, I can even eke out a finished object or two once in a while. However, my overall lack of ability to finish the things that I start is overwhelming and downright disheartening.

On some level, I've learned to acknowlege my condition and even start combatting it. Last year I finished five knitting projects: A lace bookmarkfor my mommie, a scarf for the best boyfriend ever, a pair of socks for an ex, a pair of socks for my grandfather, and a pair of socks for myself. By december 2006 I had cast on and made good progress on at least four more projects, only to let them languish in one of my various yarn boxes. I finished at least 10 swatches (including my first cables and my first slipped stitch color patterns), and began another 50 (later to rip them apart). I began learning how to spindle, and created my very first hand-spun yarn. I finished several books. I completed all my papers and passed all my classes.

I cooked a Christmas dinner (with the Best Boyfriend Ever, Lolita, and others).

This year I'm trying even harder.

I've set impending March deadlines for myself to finish projects left over from christmas, as well as my grandmother's birthday gift.

March 1: Slipper socks ("JUST LIKE YOUR AUNT LEENIE'S,") for Gram and Aunt Leenie (these will be finished in like a day if I just sit down and KNIT THEM).
March 16: Uncle Bobby's socks.
March 31: Uncle Chris's hat, Falling in Love socks for MEEEEEE.

I would also like to have at least one other knitting project finished by the April 6th, a pair of manly socks for my six-month-thingy with Owen, but I'm not gonna push myself to knit those. Even though I already bought the yarn. And I panic when I am under a deadline to buy a non-knitted gift. And I wouldn't know what else to get him.


My entries never make sense!

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.