Yarnorama

Last week was filled with yarn and craft related adventures. I went to Berkeley on the 13th to visit my brother [and Laci's] with Codemaster and my mother- it was a lot of fun, but exhausting. We ate Brazilian food and goofed off. A trip to Stonemountain was had, as was a trip to Laci’s Museum of Textiles. I bought a few things for my crewelwork projects, but nothing really photoworthy. 

On Wednesday I had my first Statistics midterm, and to whomever told me that statistics is easier than trig can go fuck themselves because they are lying. bastards. This is definitely the most difficult class I’ve ever had, and that is extremely frustrating because if I don’t pass this class then ~I don’t get to go to big girl school~ in January [if I can even afford it.] On Thursday Mr Wonderful and I went to a bookstore to grab a more sensible textbook, so we’ll see if the book helps turn things around. :/

Friday I met up with C. [and Lisa accidentally... oh and Emy! I love how that works] at Purlescence to both wish Nathania and Sandi a happy anniversary and buy some yarn. I picked up another skein of Jitterbug, in Morello Mash as well as a skein of Dream In Color Smooshy in the Gothic Rose colorway. I think I’m headed back into purplecity, and I may have finally kicked the red/orange addiction that plagued me all summer long. 

 

Dream In Color Smooshy "Gothic Rose"

As soon as the Jitterbug was wound I cast on for another pair of Cookie’s Monkeys, and have since finished ONE of the two socks. I cast on the second this morning, so hopefully I won’t have to nag myself into actually finishing the second sock. I *might* run out of yarn on the second sock, but we’ll see… 

 

Monkeys in Colinette Jitterbug "Morello Mash"

 

Saturday (the 18th) was a full day. I met Maureen bright-and-early so we could go to the Fiber Festival in Berkeley. The trip was a lot of fun. I met two incredibly nice women while waiting for Maureen’s class to finish. I also accidentally bought two skeins of AVFKW BFL Aran in a great blueish grey colorway. I have yet to decide whether or not to make two hats or a scarf. I have time to decide. It’s not like I have any responsibilities. Bwahaha.

 

Monday was my sisters 16th birthday, so the Firestarter socks have officially been gifted. She was really happy with them, which means I can safely make her more knitted things for other holidays. Which means I won’t have to spend hardly any money on her. Which means I can spend more money on me.

Most of the rest of my time [other than what has been eaten by the god of statistics] has been split between the Central Park Hoodie and the Dr. Who-scarf-that-wont-die. So, I’ve been busy busy busy.

Hat party.

I’m generally a pretty quick knitter, as long as there’s something in it for me, whether or not that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow is filled with candy, a hat, or just weea really great beer doesn’t matter much these days. The fact that I have something to do (aside from disembowl myself with my T84 calculator) matters more to me right now than it ever has. 

 

 Jillie, a friend on Ravelry, and I are having ourselves a little trade in which I’m sending her this pink Star Crossed Slouchy Beret (Rav link) knit up with 75% of one Mmmmalabrigo Worsted Weight skein, in the “Fuchsia” colorway.  I am beyond pleased with the way this has turned out, and I can’t wait until Jillie receives her hat in the mail. 

I was a little worried about how beret-y the final product would be, but it blocked like a dream and I can’t wait to pick up some more Malabrigo from Purlescence in Sunnyvale.

This is a phenomenally bad representation of the colorway, but it’ll have to do.  This beanie was knit up with Handmaidens Casbah sock in the “Midnight” colorway, and I can’t imagine a better yarn for this kind of project. I purchased the yarn a few months ago, and have since been looking for the perfect kind of project. I am so over socks right now, so those were out. Hats are quick, and I was happy to start working on one right away. 

The beanie was knit with the yarn held doubled, on 3.5mm DPN’s. I put a smocked ribbing along the bottom, to keep the hat from curling and to curb the monotony – the rest is just regular stockinette. I’ve used Casbah before, and I’ll definitely be using it in the future for more socks and eventually (if I’m lucky) a garment. 

With these two projects out of the way, I’ve cast on for my second Central Park Hoodie. Maybe this one will actually turn out alright, unlike the shitstorm the first one ended up being. 

 

The peenmobile (for Kath)

Things that have happened to my car in the past 12 months (in order):

 

1. December, 2007. Car broken into by moderately talented douchebag. Camera is stolen.
2. December, 2007. I, in a moment of clarity, back the Jeep up into a cement pylon.
3. January, 2008. Car broken into by some other douchebag who is less skilled as guy #1, he steals my chapstick. 
4. January, 2008. Jeep has a political protest, refuses to function. I use my brothers Saturn instead. Take that!
5. February, 2008. Mega-douche uses a gold paint pen to draw a chode on the back of my car. The ween in question is pictured above. I don’t even care that it’s there.
6. July, 2008. Car decides to blow a headlight. 
7. August, 2008. Ultimate douchebag from planet douchbaggerinia chucks a coke can at my car while cutting me off on the freeway. Pictures below.
8. August, 2008. Some dude rear-ends me at a stop sign. I don’t even care, his car was nearly totaled due to his insatiable need for talking on the cell phone while pretending to pay attention to the big red be-dickled car in front of him. 

   

After I 'fixed' it.

Bellona Cowl

It’s finally finished!

 

Pattern: Bellona Cowl (Ravelry Link)

Yarn: Colinette Jitterbug in the Castagna colorway, one skein.

Yarn Source: Yarndogs of Los Gatos, Ca. Cute store with great yarn.

Needles & Gauge: US size 3 (3.25mm) 16″ Addi Turbo Circulars

      20 stitches x 30 rows = 4″x4″ square.

Time Span:  October 10th-14th 2008, not including one day for blocking.

Knitting is a mystery; everything you do will change how your final piece will drape, look and fit. Your needle size, gauge and posture can have a huge effect on how your fabric feels.

This project was inspired by the dreaded dropped stitch.  The Bellona Cowl is constructed in the round, with alternating cables framed within columns of dropped stitches.

Get crafty.

Colinette Jitterbug “Castagna”

This week I’ve forced myself off of my couch and onto… another couch. But this new couch is upstairs in my studio, where craft supplies and other time-suckers go to hide. 

On the left, a pair of earrings I put together yesterday evening. I’m making a bunch of these for my shop, but the pink ones are my favorite so far. 

In the middle there is a kickass sign of productivity. I made a ton of stitchmarkers on Monday, for gifts and teh shop. A set of 5 will be available for $5.00, but I won’t be listing items in the shop until the rest of my supplies arrive next week. 

And on the right is a sneak peak of the project I am currently working on. I wrote the pattern months ago and am just now getting to the testing phase. So far so good, I love the yarn.

Thank you

I wanted to quickly say thank you to everyone who has both left a comment on the blog, or sent an email to my personal account, with kind words and sweet jokes.  I appreciate the time that everyone takes to read my little blog, and am blessed-in-a-nonreligious-way-that-probably-involves-a-little-sin to have such wonderful friends and readers. It’s so easy to lurk, shit I do it all the time! And it takes an extra ounce of awesome to leave a comment, so thank you for the millionth time. I can only hope I’ll have a chance to return the favor, not that I want anyone to get fired…

Day Three

Wednesday was glorious. It was filled with waking up late, reading, eating a great sandwich from Peggy Sue’s, cooking, important stuff, cleaning and knitting. I’ve caught up with a few wonderful people that haven’t heard from in a while, and I reorganized my studio. 

 

Everything you need to survive being fired without warning: A book to read, a book to flip through, a DS incase the books are too 'hard', a ball of cashmere yarn, a FANCY CALCULATOR (suck it, statistics) and graph paper for pretending to study.

 

One of the things that I’ve discovered about being a member of the massive undeaunemployed population is that it’s a lot easier to be creative when you don’t have to leave your creative space at home. While this whole situation still has me feeling sad, I’ve gotten over the crying end of things. I’ll miss everyone at the store, even the customers that were annoying at times. This entire experience has been devastating. :_( Now where will I shop?! And more importantly, how am I going to pay for rent…

I have been knitting. And drinking. And knitting some more. The Dr. Who scarf for MC++ has grown at least 12 inches since Tuesdays shenanigans, look at this goddamn thing. I have THIRTEEN more feet to go. If MC++ doesn’t fall down and cry over every single little stitches beauty, I’ll adopt a puppy and then kick it. Right there. Right in front of him.