Didisaurus-rex

Do Over!

For the last two and a half days we’ve been dealing with kitty issues.  Tita, the planet-sized poof, managed to get a UTI.  How? Who knows. She’s so focused on spring cleaning that the extra “attention” probably led to the invasion.

We’ve been keeping her isolated, which is nice most of the time.  We’re so used to never being able to roll over in bed due to having four cats positioned haphazardly around us, so sleeping with just one is a nice change of pace.

Handmade Ho-Down dinner

not pictured: me, alana

Here we are, many beers into the committee meeting for the Handmade Ho Down.  Finalizing something, organizing awesome stuff, and generally being obnoxious.  We’re only a few weeks away from the event, are you ready?

It may look like a slug…

… but it is not a slug.

My sock is progressing so slowly.

Which yarn to use on a dead fish?

Last year (nearly) everyone received a knitted gift, this year I haven’t got enough time to make something for everyone but I already have their unique presents picked out, ordered, or narrowed down to a couple of contenders.  There are a few things I’m going to attempt to make for Christmas gifts, and one of those items is the Fish Hat [Dead or Alive?] by Thelma Egberts that was included in the Winter 2008 Knitty pattern lineup (pictured below).

I’m having a crisis of indecision on the yarn front.  I need something soft (it doesn’t have to be superwash it would be a great bonus), something that meets my price point (less than $20 per skein of 200+ yards), two dark “ocean” colors (charcoal and deep blue?), and lastly hopefully something that lives up to my yarnie standards of hippydom.

Here are the two issues I have thusfar:

1. I could order Swish Worsted from Knitpicks and spend a grand total of $20 on the yarn.  Colorways would be Tidepool Heather and Coast Gray. But, this conflicts with my super hippy wow I’m ridiculous lifestyle.

2. Dream in Color Classy, an awesome worsted weight with great colors that I love to death.  Pricetag for two skeins? ~$40 after tax, putting it right at the spending limit but upholding all four rules.  Price shouldn’t matter that much for gifts, and I’m seriously considering it.  I could make up for the “scary price” by purchasing the yarn from a LYS.  I’m even making a trip to one next Thursday night so as long as they have a deep teal and a darkish gray I should be fine.

What do you think?  Ignore standards and aim for the lowest cost, not even having to don a pair of pants to purchase the yarn?  Should I bite the bullet and get something nicer?  The finished hat is going to my sister (Ellen if you’re reading this I am going to hide bedbugs in your room) who knows how to treat knits and appreciates the gifts until they either die a terrible death or get lost forever in the bedroom abyss.

On the eighth day…

I made it through the back of my super secret sweater knitting! Hooray! It’s 11:50pm, so I’ll cut this short for sanities sake and return tomorrow. Sorry for the lameity.

Baby epidemic?

Lately I feel like everyone I know decided to go out, all at once, maybe even on the same weekend, and get themselves pregnant.  I have four (five?) friends expecting a baby sometime between January and April.  It’s like you’re all determined to make up for the last two years of childless friends in my life.

Because of this strange natural phenomena I’ve been searching for the “ultimate” baby patterns.  I know that one friend, for sure, is having a baby boy in three months.  Deciding on patterns is easy when it comes to toys, I just stick to mochimochiland and Rebecca Danger’s patterns  (pictured above).  I never feel buyers remorse when I purchase a toy pattern because they’re all so different, I know I’ll knit them multiple times.  I also know that the recipient will love them no matter what because guess what they’re not available at Target or Baby’s R Us so no one else will have one.  The knit toy will become a slobbery, well loved, unique item in the infants life that will either face certain death or a legacy and both are perfectly fine with me.

Jared Flood's BSJ

Baby clothes, on the otherhand, make me feel insane.  There’s the standard EZ baby patterns, like the BSJ (above) that everyone + 1 has knit.  After Jared Flood (Brooklyn Tweed) blogged about his it went from “traditional knit item” to “required baby gift if you want the child to grow up well-adjusted and healthy.” This happened with the Noro Striped Scarf as well, his beautifully photographed scarf moved this easy project from it’s “yay mindless knitting!” position to a much trendier “wtf you haven’t made this yet? are you living in a cave?!”

copyright © Thayer Allyson Gowdy

Do I stick to what’s popular, or do I go with something new?  I’ve got my copy of Vintage Baby Knits by Kristen Rengren, who is a fan-fucking-tasticly sweet person, and I’m thinking about going against the grain this year.  Call it loyalty, call it non-conformity, call it being bored with EZ, but I want to knit something different; Instead of sticking to the standard EZ generic cardigan & booties baby knitting I think I’m going to knit the Jasper Diamond Hoodie (rav link, pictured above) from VBK.

There, I said it.  As fantastic as the more traditional patterns are, I think I want to gift something new to my friends who are currently up the duff.  Toys from modern designers, like Rebecca Danger, Ysolda and MochiMochi Land are on my needles, and I’m hunting for the perfect yarn to use in knitting the perfect baby clothes.

That’s all for tonight.  Tomorrow I’ll have some knitting progress to share!

A busy haze.

This week has flown by.  As I sit here at 11pm writing this I’m struggling to stay awake.  This week was filled with:

* Finishing up 2 more custom orders.

* Arguments with USPS.

* Splurging on products from Lush.

* Setting up a supply order for November.

* Working on developing a few new colorways, most specifically for a Bad Rap charity line and an exclusive set with Sweet Libertine.

* Studying

* Working on Handmade Ho-Down stuff. I’m ridiculously excited about the event, and I hope to see you there!

PSA

Wine,  in combination with pizza, a silly boyfriend, too many cats and a long week makes life wonderful.

I’m never moving.