Mystic Light

I started the mystic light shawl. I don't like the yarn nearly as much.

Malabrigo March is over. I now have too many hats. It's too hot to knit with worsted wool anymore, so I'm on to other things.

I have a sweater in More Big Girl Knits. It's out now. I don't have a copy yet because I can't quite bring myself to buy one when a free copy was part of the payment. You'd think the designers would have their copies by now, but I suppose lateness is just part of the publishing industry. I'm a little pissed off at that.

Malabrigo March and Finished Shawl

So, the malabrigo junkies had this great idea to have a malabrigo march. There are a bunch of KALs and contests going on. I love malabrigo, so I'm doing a few KALs plus a few things on my own.

I'm done with 2 hats already

Amanda Hat, which is available on ravelry as a free download. I love the colorway I used. It's called snowbird and looks like the bright colorful birds that pop out of the landscape when there's snow. My camera is on its last elbows, so the colors aren't quite right. It seems that the reds are over-saturated and the greens under-saturated these days. I think the CCD is going.


I usually kind of cross over the boundary of the round on patterns like that. I wasn't quite sure about this one to start with so I tried to follow the pattern exactly, even though it went against my instincts. You can see the result as follows:



It looks much nicer once I start doing what I tell myself is right.

Koolhaas, which you can buy from knitting daily's pattern store. Mine is done now, but I have not yet photographed the completeness. The colorway is burgundy.



Also, Aibhlinn, which I've always wanted to do.


I'm also trying to finish my Mr. Greenjeans in Mariposa and I'm working on Tam C from Three Tams in Natural and some color of silk garden. I don't have good pictures of these yet.

Here are a couple of pictures of my finished Mystic Waters Shawl.






Also, Spring is here!

Sick

I had a bad cold which is now bronchitis.

Not much is getting done.

Name change

I changed the name of the blog to be a teensy bit more anonymous. You can still find out my name if you try, but it's not so blatant.

I hurt my thumb, so no work on the lace. I can still knit, but the lace is incompatible with the band aid.

SAD is taking over my life again. Thanksgiving is over and I didn't knit hardly at all.

I started tons of projects using Malabrigo, to the point where it was unhappy. I was trying to win some yarn, but I failed. Who would have thought that I was incapable of starting more projects than other people?

I am working on a Mr Greenjeans that I like quite a lot. Also a jacket. My doubt-filled mystery green thing is about 1/2 way done. I don't think it's going to be ready for spring. There's always fall I guess. Actually I'm probably going to look into alternative distributions for it, even though it's made of knitpicks.

I ruined about 20 skeins of pakucho in a spectacular way. Photos are upcoming.




My knitting is starting to feel more like a chore again than fun. I think it's time for a break once I get the kids' sweaters done.

Tired Blood

I have anemia. It's not a huge deal, but I'm exhausted all the time. It's difficult to knit most of the time, so I'm way behind where I thought I'd be in everything.

I've been working on the Mystic Waters shawl when I can.



I finished the Tomato a while back. Here's a picture of it being modeled.



I started a sweater in malabrigo, in the color Cuarzo (It is purple. Why just Cuarzo and not Amatista?) It's a secret though. Shhh.. My secret green thing is progressing well too. Neither of these make for interesting blog things because there can be no pictures.

The sleeves, fronts and back are all finished on the Tilted Duster, but I'm having a hard time seaming it all together to pick up the skirt. I need very bright light in order to see where the needle should go, but I dislike bright light. I'm doing a little at a time when I can, but it's been pretty much relegated to the weekends because I have to bring home the kitty food. Also not terribly interesting for a blog, unless you want to see a pile of drab green. Do you?

I got a ball winder. It's a ton of fun now that I read the directions. I thought it was self explanatory, but I was wrong. I am wondering why they make the little arm guide thing swing around at all since it has to be in a certain spot to work correctly. Umm... Yarn cake is fun to make! Yay!

I'm having a serious problem with purchasing yarn, that is I can't seem to stop buying it. I went for a while without enough funds to buy anything beyond what I needed, and I'll admit I've gone a bit crazy since I got the new job. I think I may not buy any yarn for a year, with a few exceptions.

Exception the first: If I get to the point where I'm out of Noro for the Lizard Ridge, I can buy another skein. I had planned on doing one a month, but I haven't. So I'm going to just buy a new skein every time I finish one.

Exception the second: Clearance yarns or colors that won't ever be released again.

Exception the third: I run out of yarn. Of course, this isn't going to happen. I have enough yarn to keep knitting for the rest of my life.

Of course before I do that, I want to get enough yarn for Meg Swanson's phoenix sweater, The Mirepoix bodice and enough cotton or other summery yarns for 2-3 short sleeve tops, which are realistically all I wear here in CA 95% of the time. Even when it's cold enough for long sleeves outdoors, it's way too hot inside.

Then after that year, I'm going to try to keep knitting mostly from my stash for a while. There's tons of good yarn in it and I've got plenty of ideas on how to use it. There's really no need to keep buying more.

FOs and random crap from my head. Insomnia sucks and I'm tired but not sleepy.

Here is my Foliage



and a closeup picture of my fake-cami-enabled Tomato (registration required, I believe)



I am planning on having pictures of myself taken wearing this and various other FOs from my past this weekend. We shall see, since I'd probably rather just sit around in my pjs and knit.

I have joined the Mystic Waters Shawl KAL and we got the first clue today. Here is a picture of my progress.


(Colors not accurate. Colors are never accurate. Waspinator needs studio lighting)

I am truly impressed with this yarn. It's Lisa Souza hand-dyed Lace weight in the colorway South Pacific. I'll admit I was a little disappointed when I opened up the package because I had been expecting something more vibrant. However, after a little bit of knitting with it, I fell in love and it is now my favorite hand dyed yarn ever. So there.

Planned Posts for later

1) Tomato Analysis. Squishy seeds of wisdom for alterations, etc.
2) Tilted Duster. This is also being reworked heavily.
3) Laments of the Swish Superwash. There are many reports of felting. What of El Blokio's nephew's and niece's (why isn't there a non-gendered plural for them) things? And the sweaters I was planning on making for us?
4) What colors should I dye the silk for my Intoxicating. Seriously. I've got $200 of undyed silk right here just waiting for me to think of something.
5) I am going to marry malabrigo yarn one day. Just you watch. Forget the goats, this is the ultimate slippery slope argument.

Ravelry Rocks

I got in this past week and have subsequently been spending less time knitting and more time just reading the forums.

If you're not in yet, it's awesome. It'll all be public, but not until the waiting list is purged, so you'll get in faster if you go sign up, no matter what.

So many projects have been added to my list.

I love the technique for the Heere Be Dragone shawl. I might not ever make the pattern, but I bought it so I can see how it's done :)

These shoes are probably just what I need for the upcoming winter with hard floors.

There's also a mystery shawl KAL that I've joined. The pattern isn't out yet, but it's free, so I don't have to make that yet or at all if I don't want.

I finally finished the corset pullover I've been working on for...3 years? I haven't really been *working* on it that whole time, I had finished everything but one sleeve and stashed it away for about 2 years and 6 months. It's finally done (but not blocked). I've also started some gloves and the tilted duster.



Here's a picture of my one anemoi mitten that I have done. It's waiting until I care for a partner.