Christmas List

It's getting to that time of year - Christmas gifts.

It's only thirty-eight days to December 3rd, I know (X-Ring!), which makes it sixty days exactly to Christmas.

. . . oh hey, it's the 25th of October.

My mind works in mysterious ways.

Anyway! Christmas knitting. It's the most wonderful time of the year. I have a small list of people that I knit for - immediate family, four close friends, and my girlfriend. And future mother-in-law. She bought me a Christmas present, apparently. Which is pretty amazing considering that I turned her daughter into a hell-bound lesbian.

The List! Yes, I have checked it twice.

Mom
Parrotfish. She loved the Nereid Fingerless Gloves I made for the Ravelympics, but she wasn't crazy about the idea of socks, I couldn't figure out how to adapt it to a scarf, and a sweater would make her look like Namor. So when I saw this pattern, it was perfect. A woolly forest green would look good with her red hair. Also working on a bunch of scrunchies for all that hair - just trying out different yarns and stitch patterns, seeing which ones I like.

Dad
Dad! Hard to buy for. Friggin' impossible. How many golf tees does a man need? He loves three things - golf, curling, and biking. He also likes socks. Thus, a classy pair of Diamonds in His Shoes. Good for work, nice little pattern. Already cast on. Using KnitPicks Essentials Tweed, in the Lumberjack colourway - green. If I have the time, I'll also knit a pair of bike helmet ear warmers, because he is just crazy enough to bike into cold weather.

Sister
My tiny, funky sister gets a bunch of tiny, funky hats. She only specifically asked for a Jayne Hat, but I'm also going to make a Brainmonster and/or Robot Hat. Was tempted by a penguin hant, but my attempt at instarsia ended in tears.

Girlfriend's Mom
Simple. Classy. Lace Stole in a multiblue mohair. Not a throwaway project, but not something I'm going to get very invested in, in case it's burned as effigy or something.

Friends
There are four of them, but so far I've only been able to come up with three presents. For my fake husband with aspirations of being a luchador when he grows up, Lucha Libre. More instarsia, I may cry. In acrylic. He doesn't deserve better. For the sistah from another mistah, Rose's Wrist Warmers. Yes, I am voluntarily doing more cables. For my future wedding planner and kinky biology major, Thwack. In red, of course.

Which leaves me with one of the friends and the girlfriend. This is almost harder than shopping.

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Yarn, glorious yarn!

I should be preparing for my night class right now. But I have a raging migraine so I'm going to go to my happy place. Knitting. It is a very happy place. Even happier now!



Yes, Christmas KnitPicks order came! It was a very, very large box, as it had three knitters' worth of yarn, books, and needles inside. I felt rather like the Pied Knitter of Hamelin, because I picked it up at the campus post office, and people just kept falling in behind me as I processed through campus. And lo, there were goodies for all. Maddie got the Sheldon costume kit and some Gloss for her Batshawl, and Caitlin got a bunch of the fairytale themed sock yarn that is pretty and I am jealous of. And a couple of books I will be stealing, and the Harmony DPNs, which I will be coveting. I got sock yarn in a red and blue, and a green tweed (for my dad's Christmas socks), yarn for a shawl for myself for X-Ring (42 days!), and a couple backup skeins for my yet-to-be-started Katelyn Cardigan. And I said that I wouldn't buy yarn just to stash, but the Cherry Cordial bulky handpaint was just too pretty. Will become a pretty scarf for me eventually. Also ordered longer cables for my interchangeables so I can make bigger shawls, and two 2.75mm circs to try knitting socks on them. Got one Harmony and one Options so I can tell them apart easily.

Have surprisingly few projects on the needle right now. And by 'surprisingly few' I mean 'one'. My curse still lasts. I don't even know if I'm cursed, or if Red Heart Soft Touch is cursed. I have cast on for a Harry Potter scarf at least a dozen times now, a dozen different ways, and haven't gotten past the first five rows. It's a friggin' stockinette tube! How the hell can it go wrong so horribly?

My first attempt at instarsia was thrown into a box in disgust and is current hiding in a box under my desk in fear.

I want to start Rose's Wristwarmers for Maddie, but Maddie has borrowed my needles so I can't start until I get them back.

So! The only thing I'm working on is my Highland Triangle, which I alternately hate and love. I will zip along for fifteen or twenty rows, and then hit one row that goes Chuck Norris on my butt. I'm eight rows from finishing the third pattern repeat of the centre triangle, with the border and edging knitted on after. I love it so much, but it's killing me every time I pick it up. Here she is after one complete pattern repeat:



Pretty, non? And squishy. And warm. To give a sense of scale, that top edge is about a foot and a half across.

Christmas knitting is upon us, but that's another post entirely. I have started to get my yarnducks in a row, though. I have a large woven palm basket in my room that's my immediate stash, backed up by a couple of cardboard boxes in the hall closet. Today I went through the basket and took out everything that I don't intend to knit with before Christmas, so I'm not distracted by pretties before I'm all done. Made me sad to put all my beautiful Fleece Artist and Noro away in a box, though. I wish I could just hang them around my room, like art.

Actually, that isn't a bad idea . . .

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Productivity is me.

Imagine me striking a heroic pose. I am productive!

. . . okay, not really. Not in the really important, oh-shit-I-have-to-write-a-thesis way. But in the knitting way! Cleaned my room and coralled all my UFOs in one spot. Realised that I've had my Girl's Best Friend lace scarf hanging around for the last month and a half waiting for the finishing touches, so buckled down and did them.

Lesson of the day: Tassels are so much easier using a crochet hook than a darning needle and fingers.

Twenty-four tassels later, and she is complete. Yay! The total length is in the area of eight and a half feet, because clearly I am insane and normal-length scarves are just too short. Yarn was the Grand River Yarns Rayon stuff that I got at the Knitter's Frolic. The colour is gorgeous, but I found that the yarn was really slubby and fuzzy, definitely wasn't the easiest to knit with. But with the blocking I did weeks ago, it really softened up.

This was the most challenging knit to photograph thus far, I think, just because of its massive size. I tried my best, though.





And you can see it in its strung-out glory. Can't wait to show this baby off at Knitting Society on Sunday.

I am looking forward to Knitting Society. As much as I miss my old groups, I like still having something. And I'm definitely going to need the break, sitting as we are in the middle of midterms. Wrote my Welsh midterm this afternoon - the Welsh for knitting is yn gwau. Dw i'n gwau, I am knitting!

So that makes it three projects on the needles now. Highland Triangle, Stashbusters, and Christmas scrunchies. My last post was the pattern for the Stashbuster fingerless gloves, on the request of some guinea pigs lovely ladies from the Selfish Knitters, who are testing the pattern for me. I'm about halfway through my second glove. It knits up quickly, I just don't have the time! I started something a little more portable for knitting around classes, though.

Was looking at my oddballs, which are all tumbled in an old glass vase, and the ball of pale green Misti Cotton-Silk was calling my name. Inspired by Jupe's fingerless gloves, I tried it out with a double moss stitch. Holy cow, Batman. Stunner. I'm absolutely in love. Knitting a big rectangle to turn into a scrunchie for my mom; plan on making a few different ones for her as part of her Christmas present, as she loved the ones I made for Rita. And the yarn's so soft, I love having any excuse to work with it.



Will post again by Monday. Yes, I have an Irish Bardic midterm. But Canada Post has told me that that is also when my KnitPicks order will arrive! I'm bouncing just thinking about it.

Yarn diet! I swear! Just start . . . tomorrow. Honest.

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Pattern: Stashbusters!

I'm making my first stab at writing up a proper pattern for something.

Who You Gonna Call?
I named these simple, funky fingerless gloves 'Who You Gonna Call?' with the answer being, of course, "Stashbusters!" They were designed to turn the leftovers of socks into something useful for paper-writing season. I used Noro Kureyon, and the pattern works best with this kind of striping yarn with long colour repeats, or with solid yarns. You could vary the pattern with thicker or thinner stripes, or use more than two colours.



Materials:
Approximately 90yds of Noro Kureyon or other variegated yarn, or 45 yards each of sock weight yarn in two colours. If using variegated, pull from both ends for Colours A and B, or rewind into two balls.
US 2/2.75mm DPNs, set of 4

Sizes: S(M,L)

CO 48(54,60) stitches, join in the round.

With Colour A, knit two rounds in K1, P1 ribbing. Switch to Colour B and knit two rounds in K1, P1 ribbing. Continue in this manner for 16 rows (or eight stripes) of 1x1 ribbing.

Continuing with stripe pattern (two rounds of each colour), knit straight for 10 rounds (or five stripes).

Next round: Knit to end. Turn. Purl back. Turn.

Switch colours. Knit to end. Turn. Purl back. Turn.

Continue in this manner, knitting back and forth to create slit for thumb, for 26 rows (thirteen stripes).



Next round: Knit to one stitch before end. Slip first stitch of next round onto working needles, k2tog with last stitch of current round. Continue knitting in the round until last stitch. Slip last stitch onto first needles. Using alternate colour, k2tog. Continue knitting in alternate colour for two rounds. Slip last stitch of second round onto first needle, switch colours, k2tog. Knit 2 rounds. Slip last stitch of second round onto first needle, switch colours, k2tog. 44(50,56) stitches remain. You have now decreased four stitches and reinforced the join between the two ends of the fabric. The decreases also make sure that the top of the glove doesn’t slip down.

Knit two rounds.

Next round: Switch colours, begin K1, P1 ribbing. Knit 10 rounds (five stripes) in 1x1 ribbing.

Bind off in pattern.

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Twitchy.

What's the reverse of startitis? Because I think I have it. I've tried to cast on for three different projects in the last couple of days and had to give up three times after only a few rounds. Managed to moebius a scarf, couldn't get a gauge I liked, wasn't sure about a pattern . . . just argh. Frustrating. And I know that I should be working on my Highland Triangle or my Noro fingerless gloves, but I just want to start something else. Twitchy. Feeling twitchy.

Might wind up the yarn and start on my long-anticipated cardigan. I've been holding off because I didn't have enough yarn - stupid mistake when ordering from KnitPicks last time. Math is hard sometimes. But! We communally put in an order a couple days ago, so the rest of the yarn is winging its way ever closer.

Between the three of us, we spent $200.

The internet is a terrible, terrible enabler.

So what's on the needles at the moment? Highland Triangle, stalled at row thirty or so. Fingerless gloves to use up the last of my Monkey Noro. The pattern calls for a thumb gusset, but I'm just doing a thumb opening. Also striping the yarn instead of knitting in one colour. I saw the Noro Striped Scarf and really liked the effect, so I thought I'd try it out myself. Almost done the thumb on the first one, they're adorable and funky.

Might have something to do with this cold I've been fighting off for the last few days. Spent most of today in bed, missed a couple of classes. I would have gone if they had been lectures, but one was a language class and one was my creative writing seminar. Both of them require talking and thinking and I am not so much with them at the moment.

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Lessons for the Day

Sock yarn doesn't count as stash.

Acrylic doesn't count as stash.

Ravtime doesn't count as time that should have been spent on homework.

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Holy Fast Knit, Batman!

I didn't expect to have another FO to show off so quickly. But I somehow blitzed through the Namaste Yoga Mat Bag in three days - more like two and a half, as I started it Monday night and finished Wednesday night. The pattern is a total breeze. At first glance it looks a little fiddly, but everything was set out, really easy to follow. Pretty fun too, and the lace pattern is very forgiving of mistakes.

It's for a friend of mine, who is just about the bounciest, sparkliest, chipperest lesbian you'll ever meet. She requested a bag for her yoga mat and offered to pay for the yarn, and I'd already had this pattern in mind and Noro Kureyon was the first thing that jumped to mind for the yarn. I used one needle size up for the whole thing, and almost two complete skeins (which is half a skein less than the pattern calls for). To compensate for the change in needles, I cast on 51 instead of 61 stitches, which still got me the circumference stated in the pattern. Going up a size didn't really have anything to do with gauge or drape. I just didn't have 6.5 mm DPNs.





Speaking of Noro Kureyon . . . I've become a yarn snob in the worst way, my God. A trip to my yarn source - can't really call it a LYS - is just depressing. The only non-acrylic you can get is Patons Wool Merino (if you're lucky) and Briggs & Little. Of which there is an entire wall, which is pretty damn sweet. Got some for a Highland Triangle.

The meeting of the Knitting Society was even sadder. It was acrylic and garter stitch as far as the eye can see. Man, I sound like a jerk. I don't know. We were all new once, but I think I've just been spoiled by being the young'un in the group so I have people to go to for advice. Part of it was that when I go to a stitch'n'bitch, I expect the conversation to be about stitching and bitching. I like talking about knitting and techniques and yarn and patterns and there wasn't really any of that. I felt uncomfortable asking what people were working on, and when I did, they always seemed kind of taken aback or defensive. I must be weirdly adventurous - one girl hasn't even tried to learn to purl yet. But I am going to help one of the RAs from Mac learn lace, which should be fun.

Still makes me miss the ladies (and gentlemen) from Linda's. I'm going to go again this Sunday, unless I'm busy with Homecoming shenanigans, and maybe next Sunday. Give it the old college try before I abandon it totally.

Speaking of Linda, she's awesome and helped me out with my Highland Triangle long-distance because she's awesome. And speaking of the old college try, I think the only way my swift could be even more collegiate would be if I had used cases of beer:



The beer was in the kitchen and I was too lazy to get up.

Now I have to go and clean my apartment like a madwoman because my parents are coming to town tomorrow for Homecoming. Well, technically they're coming to the province tonight, but are getting together with some of their old university buddies and getting their drunk on.

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