Wifey!

Okay, I was going to talk about the Knitting Society and frustrations over lace and and yarn swaps and Noro Kureyon. But then I got a package in the mail and it totally derailed my day. I'm taking the Happy Train to Awesomeland.

My girlfriend? Is amazing.

Really, really amazing. In a number of ways. Right now she's at a funeral, and I can't be there for her and it really sucks. And sometimes I need her and she can't be here and that also sucks. But now I have my very own portable wifey for cuddles.





A handful of rainbow hearts, a new lacy scarf, a hat for Cain, a hat for my dad, and a wifey of my very own.

I love her.

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Productive Denise is Productive!

I feel very productive today. I finished two different projects last night alone! And I still have to show off the cabled mitts I mentioned in my last post (was that really just last Tuesday?), and the birthday muffin. So we'll start there and work backwards!

For my girl, the Cozy Cable Mitts.



I have to admit, this project wasn't as brutal as I'd feared. There were seventy-seven individual cables on each mitt. That's a lot of fiddly little cables on not-large needles. But it was a labour of love, and really, they went quite quickly. I used the Creative Focus Worsted Nashua Handknits that I fell in love with at Linda's, and I still have about a skein and a half of that green, and a skein of blue. Some of the green will be a hat for my mom. It was very . . . woolly? Is that the right term? But it was fuzzy and hairy, even after I handwashed it.

I really hope they fit her - they definitely didn't fit my giant hands.

I love her madly, but no more cables for a while.

The next thing I finished was a quick little project for my friend Michel. I posted part of the story on the Ravelry project page. Last year, Michel was part of a special Gaelic strike force that was being sent into the highlands of Nova Scotia to convert the school children to speaking Scottish Gaelic. How a Quebequois managed to get tangled up in this mission, we're not quite sure but we think it has something to do with the Auld Alliance. As they were heading out on an expedition after their requisitie coffee stop, Michel set his muffin down on the back of the backseat of the car. It was the perfect muffin, fresh and warm and perfect in every way which a muffin can be perfect.

And then the driver hit the brakes and the perfect muffin, as if on a wire, zoomed straight under the front seat, where through a series of twisting highways, bumpy roads, and sudden starts and stops, it became somewhat . . . less than perfect.



And Michel mourned for his muffin. It became a bit of a running joke with us, Michel's lost perfect muffin. So I used the cupcake pattern in brown and cream and added "chocolate chip" bobbles to the top of the muffin. The bobbles were an adventure and the Peer Gynt that I used for the top of the muffin needed to be held doubled, but it only took me about three hours to do start to finish. And the best part? He loved it. He showed it off to everyone before tucking it into his jacket pocket. And then kept stroking it and turned all Gollum on us. My preeeeecious . . .



So that's two projects for other people I've finished. Never fear, my Selfish Knitter brethren, the next two are all for me me me! Like socks! My second pair ever, I used the no-purl version of Monkey. I confused Maddie, who thought that Knitty pattern was called No-Purl Monkeys, and said to me that for a pattern which claimed to be no-purl, there was an awful lot of purling. No purling for me, muahaha! And damn, do they look good:







As for the pattern, without the purls it was super-easy to memorise. I used six lace repeats for the leg and another six for the foot before starting the toe decreases. Because I was knitting at a larger gauge, this got me a sock that fits my ladies ten foot. For the toe decreases, I made a rounder toe by decreasing every second round to 36 stitches, and then every row down to 16, then kitchenered eight on eight. The other change I made to the pattern was by accident, when knitting the heel flap. I knit a traditional heel, because that's what I did last time, and realised that the pattern called for just a plain stockinette heel flap.

I used Noro Kureyon Sock, my first time working with it - I'm in love! It was getting a little frustrating when everyone who touched it would give me this tentative sort of look and say gently, "But isn't it awfully rough?" What? It's rough? Really? I had no idea that this yarn I've already knit into a sock and a half wasn't as soft as a baby's ass! What a fool am I.

I did get lots of compliments on it from the older ladies in the hospital waiting room. All of them seemed utterly shocked that I had made it despite my age.

Okay, so I'm a little snappy today. I will just sit here and pet my pretty socks until I calm down. Pet pet pet.

Still feeling the bug after weaving in my ends, I picked up my Hot Head toque again and discovered that I only had about twelve rows to go. So I popped in Street Kings and knit away. Bound off just before the final showdown - it wasn't a bad movie for a cop drama. Not my usual sort of movie, but it had Hugh Laurie, who really really really needs to get back to doing sketch comedy, dammit, and Keanu Reeves. He's good in most of his roles - most of his roles are just poorly written for him.

Yes! Hat! Not Keanu! Ta da:



The pattern was incredibly simple, just row upon row of ribbing and then six decrease rows for the crown. It looked too narrow and too long when it was off the needles, but fits perfectly over my curls. I used Berroco Foliage, and I love the way that it striped. The bars are irregular and not in any set pattern (kind of like the original Hot Head pattern), I like it much better for this project than if it had striped. I have another skein of the same yarn (used up practically an entire one for this), so it'll probably be a matching cowl. But for now I am comfy and warm in my dorm room.

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ACK!

The ACK! would be beacuase of the thesis flail I'm currently experiencing. Honours thesis and grad school applications have taken over my life, most of my knitting is now relief knitting. I should start my second sock, but right now all my brain wants to do is mindless ribbing.

I did, however, finish one Monkey, Sunday night while I was working. Damn, this thing is pretty. I love the green-gold-brown gradients going on, and the pattern is just subtle enough that they aren't boring but aren't overly elaborate. I went up two needle sizes from a 2.5 to a 3 to make sure they actually fit. As it is, the one sock is a little snug around the heel of my massive manfeet. I modified the toe a little to make it rounder, and I tried a grafting method that didn't give me such a square bind-off. Enough babbling, pictures!





Now I'm trying to decide if I want to colourmatch the stripes, or just start knitting and end up with two different and equally funky socks.

I think I may go for the different socks. For my first Noro, I want to get all the colour I can out of them. Have I mentioned how utterly in love with this yarn I am? I'm waiting for a ball of it from one of my fellow Selfish Knitters. Keep obsessively checking my mailbox, but no sign of it yet.

Speaking of mail, I paid $1.30 in postage today to mail Natalia's finished mittens to her. To match the calorimetry I made her for her birthday, I knit a pair of simple cabled mittens. I used the Basic Cabled Mittens pattern, modified with an afterthought thumb instead of a thumb gusset. These things are tiny. I can barely get them on, which is perfect for her. I asked her to send me the measurements of her hand, because I knew it was so much smaller than mine. The cable turned out nice and neatly, but I misread the pattern instructions and did two or three fewer decrease rounds than I was supposed to. They didn't turn out too badly, except for one being a centimetre shorter than the other one. Shhh, don't tell her. She won't notice.




Check out this wicked pooling on the back. Using the same yarn on the calorimetry pattern produced a mottled affect, but I like the diagonal tiger stripes. Especially that thick band of gold and red horizonal stripes.



Ta da! Finally done. I hate cables in the round.

So, of course, I almost immediately cast on the Cozy Cable Mitts, for my girl, on her request. Taking a break from everything more complex with Hot Head from Stitch'n'Bitch. Not even trying the colour band pattern, using a striped yarn anyway. Berocco Foliage, in deep turquoise, cranberry, purple, and black. Looks and feels great so far.

Also, is a fast knit on big needles with chunky yarn and I only have to make one of them. That in itself is more than a relief.

Still ignoring the siren call of yarn shopping. Still missing my Bitch'n'Stitch group.

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Want. Cannot have.

I finally caved and went to fondle some pretties.

I don't have a LYS here in Antigonish, but I do have the Five to a Dollar. It's the old timey general store on Main Street, sells everything under the sun from camera equipment to chocolate bars to lingerie to hunting gear to toys to cookware. And yarn. A fairly decent sized yarn section, considering the size of the store. Mostly populated by Bernat and Patons, which when I left was the pinnacle of my yarn experience. One of the few sources of Phentex slipper yarn left, apparently. But! Today I discovered the wall of Briggs & Little. Including the heather blue I've been ogling for my Highland Triangle. Damn, that stuff is cheap. I could have stayed there for six times as long.

I also discovered the racks of On Your Toes! For pretty afforable a ball, in superwash and bamboo. And at least three colourways I want to knit up instantly. The bamboo is so soft, but is mostly heathered pastels. At least I know I can have socks whenever I want. A skein of Noro is winging its way up to me from California, and I can't wait for it to get here. A package of chocolate bars is sitting on my bed to be sent in return.

Speaking of Noro, I cast on for a pair of No-Purl Monkeys using my green-brown-gold-grey skein of Noro Kureyon Sock. Oh. My. God. I love this yarn. I never want to finish the socks, so I can just keep knitting with it forever. The shift in colours is beautiful, it feels just so right in my hands. I love it! I picked the Monkeys because I wanted a small pattern that wouldn't get lost in the colours, but something that would be a little different than straight stockinette. I prefer the look of the No-Purl variation, too. A picture!



I could not for the life of me get the colour to be true on the computer, though. The light green is more of a vibrant lime. I just finished turning the heel - my favourite part. I'm not sure how my friend Caitlin will do with it. Sock-knitting lessons were part of her birthday present from me, along with HiyaHiya DPNs and a skein of Fleece Artist Trail Socks in the Angel Fish colourway. I coached her through joining in the round, and last time I saw her she had an inch of ribbing. Waiting for the panicked call when she finishes the leg.

I'm gazing longingly at my own sock. I should really be working on Natalia's mittens. Got one done, it's perfect for her weetiny, allergic-to-wool hand. Pretty mottled autumn yarn, just a simple and classy little cable down the middle. Almost done the ribbing, but that's as far as I got. Noro so much prettier. It's singing my name.

Both projects are demanding time from me. Total distraction from everything else I should be doing. Like grad school applications, thesis research, and Medieval Gaelic Religious Poetry and Prose readings. I gotta work on reading while knitting. So far, I've only mastered knitting while watching movies and TV. Today's indulgence has been the Babylon 5 movies. Random Martin Sheen for the win, and Zack is one of the most underappreciated characters on this show. Bones tonight!

I enjoy communal living.

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Withdrawal

I haven't picked up the needles in two days, ack!

I have been ridiculously insane busy, moving back to school. The panic and flail started on Sunday, when I entrusted almost the entirety of my stash to a friend of mine to transport for me. Oh, the horror stories I imagined until I got my hands on it again. She didn't realise how much the stash was worth, or else she would have been way more nervous about it.

But it arrived safely! As did I.

So far, everything is amazing. The apartment is bigger than I thought it would be, the furniture is only a couple years out from new. Even my bed is exponentially more comfortable than last year. I have a bedspring! Small things can make me so very happy. We fit about twelve people comfortably in our living room tonight. We tend to trip over each other in the kitchen, but so far that hasn't been a problem.

All four of us are so terribly domestic, it's really quite sad. I'm living with three of my best friends. The last three years, we've all lived on the same floor in traditional style res. This isn't a big change, except that we have a living room instead of sitting in the hallway and we don't have to share bathrooms with twenty people. And we have a kitchen.

Here's a couple of pics of the new abode, and two of my roommates (the one looking out the window is just hanging out):









My courses are equally awesome. Welsh, Medieval Gaelic Religious Poetry and Prose, Irish Bardic Poetry, creative writing. So far, only had Welsh (phonetic! No cases!) and Poetry and Prose (Scottish prof! Awesome accent!), but I'm so stoked for the rest.

Will pick up the needles again this weekend. Have a weekend-long knitting, JAG, NCIS, and thesis proposal marathon planned with the Mad-ster. It's the cabled mittens that I'm working on, and they look great. The cable's just small enough that the pattern isn't driving me crazy, but gives the mittens a bit of class. After trying to make the thumb gusset increases make sense to me, I went with an afterthought thumb instead. Had to kind of guess at the placement, but I think it'll work out. We'll see.

And now, to bed.

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