Wednesday, May 28, 2008

And so the Great Blocking Adventure begins . . .

The Adamas is finished! Yay! I was literally binding it off on the bus on the way to the Stitch'n'Bitch. I am so incredibly pleased at how it's turned out.

It still, however, needs to be blocked. I am afraid of ruining it. I knit up two test swatches of the same wool. One I soaked and then ironed on the lowest setting. The other I pinned dry and put a damp towel over, ironing it on that same setting. No immediate melting or crisping, and acrylic feels terrible when it's wet anyways. Threw both swatches in the wash with the towels, which are now in the dryer. I'll see which swatch turned out the best before I touch the Adamas itself. Unblocked, it's looking like this:



Close-up of the pattern along the central spine:


So, I had the blanket to show off, and brought along Super Grover to show off to Vaedri - who wasn't there! Sadness. Just means he'll have to come along next time. Cast on my next project, the long-awaited Evangelines! Cast on with the Sean Sheep armytage in the foliage colourway. I thought it would end up in camouflage splotches, but it ended up striping gorgeously, a really beautiful gradient. It's so soft, 100% wool, but it'll felt at the drop of a hat. I have enough of the yarn to make a pair of the elbow-length and a pair of the wrist-length, which I think I will. The elbow-length for me, the wrist-length for . . . someone. I'm up to the third cable repeat of seven, they knit up really quickly. Isn't this colour gorgeous?



I'm still waiting on my order from KnitPicks. Been running to the door every time I think I hear the screen door opening. Pretty Harmony circs, I wantses them.

Time to check on the wash. As soon as Adamas is blocked, I'm casting on a Yoda sweater. I hope I have enough yarn, because I really have no idea where to find more of it.
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Friday, May 23, 2008

Coo-roo-coo-coo-coo-coo-coo-coooooo . . .

Not much activity to report since the last update. Still pluggin' away on the Adamas, the fun fur shawl and evil Phentex slippers have slipped back into hibernation.

The Adamas is going well. I'm on to the twelvth repeat, which could be the last one. Maybe one more. I just started the new ball of Bernat Baby Softee, so it's not like I'm about to run out of yarn.

So, the adventure of the week has been ballwinding. You can see the results (first try, and then second try) here:



The phrase 'epic fail' comes to mind. I know what I did wrong now. I hadn't realised that there were ties that I had to undo. So since then I've been painstakingly untangling it by hand, usually when I have insomnia. It's about half-done. The blue-green Zephyr has been wound. I'm thinking of using it to make the Peacock Shawl. Or maybe Swallowtail, from the Interweave Knits best-of. That one, I might save for some of my Clever Cat laceweight. Oooh, I sound like I know what I'm talking about.

Speaking of proficiency, I just placed my first order with KnitPicks. I was impressed with how quickly it shipped, and it should be here as early as next Tuesday - whee! I ordered some of the Wool of the Andes bulky in "emerald" for my cardigan (yes, I know, I already had some but it's the wrong weight which will become another sweater, hush). I really, really can't buy any more yarn - though I am going to swing by the place that's selling a bunch of it really cheap downtown Toronto. But the big KnitPicks purchase was the Harmony Wood Interchangeables. I've been doing some research, and they seem worth the initial cost. I ordered an extra set of tips for the cardigan, as well. I can't wait to get my hands on them. They are soooo shiny.

Since I started my linguistics course, I have two hours of public transit time twice a week - and I can get a lot done in that time, it's been great. Perfect way to spend the all that time. I knit during the break in class and when I'm waiting around for my tutorial. I have yet to try knitting through the tutorial, but if they are all this skin-crawlingly irritating I may have to start.

And finally - Pictures are working again, so I can provide the pictorial evidence of the success of SuperGrover. First we have the hand-drawn card that he came with:




And a small story in pictures. Now I am near. Neeeeeeear.

Now I am far! Can you seeeeee me?
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Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Stitch 'n' Bitch, now with 54% more bitching!

So, it was SnB night in Port Credit. I really needed it after the week I've had - already, and it was only Tuesday. And it was a lot of fun. My sister picked me up after my linguistics class and we headed down to Port Credit to just wander around, grab some food - ice cream from Scoops and a huge delicious burrito from Burrito Boys - and, of course, down to Linda's Craftique to have a poke through. I've been ogling the book Folk Shawls for the last little while, due to my new and unhealthy obsession with lace. She's also going to be getting in Son of Stitch 'n' Bitch, which I need for my husband's luchador mask. Goodbye first paycheque . . .

I'm about to cast on another project, which will be good for me. Right now my only ones on the go are my baby blanket and those evil demon slippers which I swear to God I will finish sometime that is not now. Oh, and that fun fur shawl that's hiding in the bottom of my yarn bag. Next up: Harry Potter scarf, for me, in Ravenclaw colours. Not going to go with the patterns in Charmed Knits because I don't particularly like it. Lots of stitches on small needles. I'm going to do fewer stitches on big needles, because I like the big squishy gauge better for scarves. Using Red Heart Soft Touch because I couldn't find a good bronze in any other yarn brand - I'm going with the book colours of blue and bronze rather than the movie colours of blue and silver.

I have three to four repeats to go on the Adamas shawl, and I'm just about at the end of the first ball of Bernat Baby Softee. I've already picked up a second ball so I won't have to wait, yay.

And still no pictures. Ubuntu refuses to acknowledge the drive, and because the driver is supposed to be included with this version, we can't find it elsewhere. Picking up an external cardreader today when I hit the mall in a couple of hours to see if that works. Then, hopefully, pictures!
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Sunday, May 11, 2008

Linux has landed!

My laptop's back! The video card went about a month and a half ago, and after a long and epic journey across the country and through the hands of various IT professionals, it is finally, finally home in my loving arms. It's been hell without my baby. All through papers and exams, and then long hours of nothing when I moved back home.

And now, she is even new and improved. The motherboard was wiped (luckily, I had backed everything up at the first sign of trouble so nothing was lost but a bit of music), so I took the opportunity to upgrade to Linux. My amazing techie friend and knitting protege Nik installed Ubuntu for me and wrestled with the wireless card. Le voila:

linuxy


It isn't perfect yet, I still need a few drivers and my camera is refusing to upload pictures to it, but so far things are shiny. Working on getting everything back the way I want it. LJlogin is also being pissy. Or rather, Firefox is being pissy about LJlogin. Either way, I need it.

So, until the camera connection works, no knitting-pictures. I have a couple of Mom with her SuperGrover. She loves the little guy, it was great. The waitresses at the pub were all totally in love with him, too. Basically, I'm awesome.

Haven't gotten much else done; not much time to just sit and knit now that I'm working. Still pluggin' away on the Adamas shawl. I'm on the tenth repeat of the pattern, which calls for fourteen but Linda suggested eleven for the baby blanket. I think I'm going to run out of yarn before I finish off even if I just do eleven, so I might go ahead and do fourteen, as it doesn't look all that big at the moment. Still has to be blocked, though, which will be an adventure as I haven't actually blocked anything before.

Speaking of adventures, tonight's was in winding yarn. My very first hank (my gorgeous red Anne) I think I missed some important ties, because now it's just a tangled mess with random loops sticking out at odd angles that I gave up on until I had better lighting. My Zephyr worked out much, much better. I was surprised at how thin it was. I don't exactly what I was expecting from lace yarn . . . oh well. I'm using one of those pillows with the arms for a swift at the moment. Not done yet, but looks like it should be a breeze - no pun intended.

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Now I am near! Neeeear. Now I am far, can you seeee me?

Well, my Mother's Day gift would have went off without a hitch if I hadn't been dumb and left him out on my workspace while my mom was home and poking around. But! She loves him, so everything is okay. I present, in collaboration with my sister and in appreciation of our mom being a Super Mom, her very favourite Muppet:

SUPER GROOOOOOOOOVER!


He is so damn cute. Used less than one skein of Red Heart Foxy (even though I bought three . . .) and used the basic pixie pattern with a lot of modifications. Made the head larger and rounder and the body more pear-shaped. The arms and legs are both much longer than specified, but it is Grover. The nose was a minimal amount of Bernat Handicrafter Cotton in pink. I just cast on 20 stitches and knit in garter stitch, decreasing every round until I had about ten stitches left. Drawstring close, knit up the side, created a generally oval shape. Googley eyes, slightly too large, instead of the buttons (which were slightly too small).



My sister is responsible for both the cape and the logo, so I have no idea what materials she used for them. The cape is sewn to his wrists, as they are on Super Grover himself. The only thing about this little guy is that when I laid him down to glue on the logo, I twisted his neck a little so the logo is horribly off-centre. I can't pull it off without de-furring him, so I might detach and reattach the legs if it becomes a real problem.

I'm thinking of writing up my mods to the pattern and posting it so people can share the Grover love. I've gotten nothing but happy squeals when I show him off. For nostalgic purposes I may have to start a whole line of these - the Friendly Giant, Rusty, Snuffalupagus . . . I wish I could crochet, amigurumi would be so handy. But, instead, I have Super Grover. And he's pretty damn awesome. Super Grover, away!

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Busy as a bee (but not the Bread and Honey kind)

Wow, busy busy busy few days. I'll leave it to you to make your own beaver jokes. Finally landed a part-time job for the summer - the interview was on Saturday and I worked my first shift Tuesday, how's that for turnaround? Hopefully this one sticks because I haven't heard back from anywhere else. Oh woe is the out-of-province university student when it comes to the job market.

But! Now I'm selling high-end women's fashion at Laura Plus. I have to dress up for work and put everything I learned watching What Not to Wear, Tim Gunn's Guide to Style, and How to Look Good Naked to use. And there are these gorgeous lace knit shrugs and cardigans in the store and I keep thinking "I want to make those." I've definitely found a new home for my pretty blue-green variegated Zephyr: the Frilly Brioche Shrug. I love the sleeves on this one. First, though, is my candleflame shawl and my Katlyn cardigan.

Too many projects, not enough time. A few people know that I've been considering a new business venture. The Streetsville Founders' Day Festival, also known as the Bread and Honey Festival, has for years and years had a large craft fair set up on the island next to the park. My dad suggested that I whip up a bunch of things to set up a booth, and I rejected the idea out of hand - I don't have the yarn, I can't sell things from other people's patterns, I don't have the time, the booth fee is too high for me to even feasibly turn a profit. It's June, no one's going to buy a knitted hat. And so on and so forth. But then I got thinking about it, did a cost-time analysis. Looked at material costs. Figured I could try emo and Harry Potter-themed hats and scarves. Take commissions. I contacted the organiser, figured it was doable. So I made a couple of hats with improvised patterns (one variant below) to see how long they would take to make and if the time would be worth the money.



It's really, really not. If I sell a hat that took me four hours to make with $3 worth of material for $10, that's not really a profit. I would consider that a loss in terms of labour costs. Also, with this job now, that cuts into my knitting time anyway. And I don't particularly want to spend the next three weeks churning out crap when I could be working on beautiful shrugs, shawls, and cardigans for myself and my family. Am I being selfish? Yes. Am I being business-minded? Probably not. Do I care? No.

Just. Say. No.

The whole idea has been wicked stressing me out, so I'm ready to just drop it. But now I'm worried that instead of seeing all the thought (and stress) that went into the decision, my dad will think I'm just being lazy. Because that's how most things go in this house. Because I'm not as verbal a person as my sister, when I refuse to do something I don't realise I have to give a reason. I assume that they will assume that I have one. Instead, they assume I'm just lazy. For years I've hated doing the dishes because it wreaks havoc on my hands. I don't normally have problems with dry skin, but after doing dishes? I can't use my hands for the next hour. But no. My parents kept making me do them - because they thought I was just being lazy.

Okay, that rant got me sidetracked.

Anyway, point of the story is that I will not be hawking my wares at the Bread and Honey Festival. Though I will be pulling pints in the Rotary beer tent. Which will be just as fun and probably get me more phone numbers. Although mostly from men, which will be less than fun.

Thursday, May 1, 2008

Nerds and Birds

I have three whole FOs to show off! Well, one is something that I finished about a month ago but forget to take a picture of with every single round of yarn photography. But, ha. I remembered this time.

The Miniature Weasley Sweater from Charmed Knits:



As you can see, my duplicate stitch needs some work. I think it could be also due to the fact that I used a completely different weight of yarn to do the duplicate stitch. The first time I sewed this thing up I sewed it with the right side to the wrong side, so I had to rip out the shoulder stitching and do it again, so it's a little knobbly. The scale is kind of hard to see, but your average sized hair pick can wear this wee sweater comfortably.

Second nerdy knit of the day is also miniature! Yes, it's the first two of the promised legion of mini-Jayne hats:



This time I remembered to put something in for scale. The one on the right of the picture was the first one I made, and it was exactly to pattern. The second one, I did a 2x2 rib for the brim instead of garter stitch, and lengthened the earflaps by two rows. I like it better of the two. I'm just going to keep making more until I run out of gold yarn and hopefully get my orange and red down a bit, too. Have to pick up a few brooch backs and/or keychain rings to do something useful with them. Squish is the very first recipient of a mini-Jayne hat, as I popped Jayne Hat Prototype B into an envelope right after I took this picture. Enjoy, my browncoat friend.

And the nerdiest of the nerd projects (yes, they are ordered not only by size but by geek rating), is the now-completed Binary Throwpillow. Which was supposed to be a binary scarf, hush, but I listed my reasons for truncating the project in my last post.

It did, however, turn out really good:




I think it would add a touch of class and hominess to any nerd's cave. The tassels were a bitch on my fingers, though. I was using too small of a needle for the first half (I thought it was my bigger needle, but it wasn't), and that balck yarn is like knitting with barbed wire anyway. Tore the side of my index fingers to shreds, I actually shed blood over this thing. Would I knit a binary scarf in future? Probably. I would need better yarn, use bigger needles, and do thinner rows of characters - five would probably be the best width.

Haven't actually done any knitting today, though. Today I was dykey and butch and was scrubbing my dad's giant midlife crisis cedar deck with chemicals and a pressure washer to prepare for staining. I even managed to haul his giant midlife crisis barbeque out of the way and clean all the way around his giant midlife crisis hot tub. And, while I was cleaning, I found this:



There's actually two babies, you can see the second one's tail next to its brother. Dad Bird was hanging around while I was cleaning in case I got too close. That whole deck-cleaning adventure took a couple of hours and a broken floodlight, then it was a trip to Home Depot for the stain and brushes, and then more running around, and then some cleaning, and then I took out all my stash and organised it so all the stuff that I don't have a project for is on the bottom of the bag and everything else is on the top. Which, of course, gave me an excuse to stroke it all again. Mmmm. Yarn. I'm a little worried about my Sean Sheep armytage. It's all the same dyelot, but my three balls are all distinctly different. One is dominantly a much darker army green, and one is dominantly a very soft chartruese green. The third, however, is a middle-ground, so I might just start with either the dark or light one and cycle through. It won't all look even, but the joins won't be as noticeable. Of course, I could always go back to WalMart and try to exchange it . . . No. Bad Denise.

Though, I do have to go and return those needles. And get some pink cotton stuff for Super Grover's nose. Super Grover is my next project, for my mother for Mother's Day. I bought three balls of a slate blue Red Heart Fun Fur, thinking that was probably the closest blue I could get - and then I found two balls of a bright blue no-name fun fur that was absolutely perfect. At Dollarama, of all places. I forwent, though. I'm going to stick to my blue. I hope I have enough. I'm kind of winging it on this pattern, because I couldn't find a Grover pattern. I'm using a generic pixie doll pattern for the basis, and then enlarging the hands, feet, and head. I also need to add his pink nose. I'm thinking of knitting the eyes right in, as is done for the makkuro kurosuke. My sister's volunteering her sewing skills and scrap material for his cape. Suuuuper Groooooover!